Nurses in Kisumu County are set for a major strike next month, in a move that is expected to distract the provision of health care in public health facilities.
Addressing the press in Kisumu on Wednesday, Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) Kisumu branch Chairman Maurice Opetu said that they will down their tools starting midnight of 4th February 2019.
He said this is due to the Kisumu County Government’s failure to implement the return to work formula agreed upon the two parties in November 2017.
“The Union is now convinced that the county government of Kisumu is not ready to meet the expectation of the nurses,” he said.
The strike will adversely affect the progress of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) currently being implemented in Kisumu, Nyeri, Machakos and Isiolo counties.
Mid this month, KNUN leadership in a letter addressed to the Kisumu County Public Service Board and the Kisumu County Secretary, said nurses are demanding for the payment of Nursing Service Allowance and uniform allowance as indicated in an agreement signed by nurses and the National and County Governments on November 02, 2017.
“Pursuant to the agreement, all nurses are entitled to Nursing Service Allowance and Uniform Allowance which we have been informed by the branch leadership that you have failed to pay from July 2018, hence breaching the terms of the agreement,” read a section of the letter.
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (Russia) and the Kisumu County Hospital are among health facilities which are likely to be affected by the strike.
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