Rocky year for country’s troubled health sector

By ISAIAH LUCHELI

NAIROBI, KENYA: This month’s strike by health workers was the second time within the year nurses had paralysed operations in public hospitals.

Earlier in the year, nurses downed their tools in all public hospitals to press the registration of their union, the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN).

The strike, which commenced late last year and spilled into January and February this year, grounded operations in all public health facilities, leading to the death of many patients and even efforts by the Government to intimidate and harass the nurses failed to arm twist them into returning to work.

The over 16,000 nurses soldiered on with their strike despite the Government decision to stop their December and January salaries, issue sack warnings and letters to some of the nurses while over 3,000 others were arbitrarily transferred.

The dispute ended at the Industrial Court where the nurses moved to, seeking to compel the Government to register their union and stop harassing and intimidating the striking nurses, arguing that engaging in mass action and being members of a union was enshrined in the Constitution.

Union’s registration

After three months of strike, which subjected Kenyans to untold suffering, the nurses won the fight after the court ruled in their favour and the Government yielded, which saw the registration of their union on April 19, this year.

However, when the proceedings at the Industrial Court commenced, the Government maintained its hardline stance by declining to register the union despite the Industrial Court ruling.

In January, the Industrial Court directed the Public Health and Medical Services ministries and the Public Service Commission to develop a formula that would see nurses resume duty in public health facilities.

However, by February, the Government defied the orders and instead intimidated the workers through issuing sacking and transfer letters to the nurses and withholding their salaries.

The nurses returned to court protesting the move. Through their lawyer Maranga Maosa, and the unregistered union’s Secretary General, Seth Panyako told the court the Government had refused to engage in a return to work formula and was intimidating, sacking and suspending the nurses.

Industrial Court Judge Nduma Nderi had directed the ministries of Public Health, Medical Services, PSC, Commissioner of Labour and the nurses association to agree on the modalities that would ensure the nurses return to work.

The judge had given the Government seven days to have come up with the return to work formula but a month down the line the Government declined to engage the unregistered union in talks or any form of negotiations.

Mr Panyako had prayed to the court to intervene and have the Government allow the nurses to report back on duty without being victimised as the court worked on resolving the dispute over the registration of the union.

Panyako observed the court had ruled last year the strike was legal before the same court overturned the ruling and termed the strike illegal and directed the nurses to return to work, which had caused confusion among the nurses.

The AG argued the nurses belong to a union not recognised by law as it is not registered and their actions are in contravention of the Labour Relations Act.