The week-long nurses strike was yesterday called off following the signing of a Sh7 billion pay deal which left their union split down the middle.
This was after some Kenya National Union of Nurses officials okayed the deal which gave the 29,000 nurses an additional allowance of between Sh15,000 and Sh20,000, without a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), to the chagrin of the union's secretary general, Seth Panyako, who boycotted the deal's signing.
Though the offer is way below what they had demanded, the union described it as "acceptable under the current circumstances".
The agreement means that the nurses have only been awarded a new service allowance without a CBA to harmonise all the salaries as they had hoped for.
Those in job group G to L have been awarded Sh20,000 while those in job group M and above will get Sh15,000.
This is according to the return-to-work agreement signed between the nurses' union, Council of Governors and the Ministry of Health.
The document, titled duty resumption agreement, will be implemented next month. However, nurses will enjoy the deal in two phases of 60 and 40 per cent payable in January and July 2017 respectively.
Nurses in job group G to L will be paid Sh12,000 from January with the balance of Sh8,000 coming in July.
Those in Job group M and above will be paid Sh9,000 in January and the balance of Sh6,000 starting in July.
Job group G is the lowest paid nurse with a basic salary of between Sh16,692 and Sh21,304 in the national government and Sh36,050 to Sh53,685 in the county government.
The highest paid nurse (R) earns between Sh109,089 and Sh144,928 in the national government while at county level, the amount is between Sh72,230 and Sh97,980.
Yesterday's deal was signed between the union led by the chairman, John Bii, and the deputy general secretary, Maurice Opetu. The Government had Council of Governors Human Resources chair James Ongwae and Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu.
"Consequently we ask all nurses in the country to report back to work for duty immediately," said Opetu.
Panyako later told journalists in Kakamega that his colleagues Bii, Opetu and assistant chief trustee Alice Orengo had been compromised and insisted that the strike was on until their grievances were addressed.
"The three officials chairman Bii, deputy secretary Opetu and assistant chief trustee Orengo cannot put nurses at stake for their own interest," he said, adding that the fate of the trio will be discussed today at a meeting of the union's top organ.
He reiterated that the industrial action was still on and only a meeting set for today would review negotiations and determine if they would resume duty.
Bii, however, dismised claims that they were compromised, saying they had accepted the offer to salvage the name of nurses who have taken the oath to preserve life.
"The strike is still on. We had a meeting with government but that does not mean that the strike has been called off. What we discussed is going to be subjected to the national governing council which is meeting tomorrow (today) at Railways Club," he said.
The Health CS said the deal would cost the Government some Sh7 billion, which he explained had not been not factored in the current financial year.
"This is not little money. Ideally, you cannot take money from one docket and put it in another. This deal does not remove the heavy financial burden on the government," said Dr Mailu.
