NAIROBI: A meeting between Nairobi County government officials and striking health workers to resolve the workers standoff collapsed Tuesday.
This comes after a lack of solidarity between the health workers threatened to undermine their quest.
A visit to various health facilities by The Standard revealed that operations were on-going in most hospitals with the exception of Mama Lucy Hospital that remained on a go-slow.
Kenya National Union of Nurses Nairobi Branch Acting Secretary Eunice Ngari, said the meeting to negotiate a deal fell apart after officials of the county questioned the legitimacy of KNUN in calling for the strike.
Ms Ngari insisted that even though KNUN was registered to represent nurses, other health workers can be represented by the union if they choose to, saying the constitution backs their stand.
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“Instead of addressing the real issues on the table, the county government is engaging in sideshows and diversionary tactics. They are not sincere in resolving the issues that led to the strike,” she said.
KNUN General Secretary Seth Panyako said that the union had been called for a meeting by the Ministry of Labour on Tuesday and expressed hope that the matter would be resolved amicably.
This optimism arises after a check by The Standard proved that most of the health facilities were attending to patients albeit in a reluctant manner.
Health workers from the Pumwani Maternity Hospital reported to work as usual and although the Deputy Medical Officer Lazarus Omondi insisted there was no strike, patients say they were being turned away if it was not an emergency.
“I came in the morning for a check up but I was told that only emergencies were being taken care of,” said Rose Akinyi, a resident of Baba Dogo.
The situation was very different at the Mbagathi District Hospital where operations were fully functional with patients there saying they had not experienced any difficulty
Health workers in Nairobi are demanding that the county government harmonises their salaries and promotes deserving workers.
