Striking doctors and nurses have been ordered to go back to work immediately.
Employment and Labour Relations Court judge Hellen Wasilwa yesterday declared the strike illegal and warned that those who did not return to work would be breaching their employment contracts.
Justice Wasilwa directed the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) and the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) leaders to order their members to report back to work.
"It is on record that Justice Nelson Abuodha issued an order requiring the striking doctors and nurses to resume duty but they have defied it. This court can only protect them if they call off the strike and resume duty immediately," Wasilwa said.
Last Friday, the court temporarily stopped the strike to allow the hearing of the dispute. This was after the Council of Governors sued the two unions over the strike.
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And yesterday, Wasilwa ordered the unions to call off the strike and appear before her on Monday for further directions.
However, addressing the media outside the court, KMPDU Secretary General Ouma Oluga and his KNUN counterpart Seth Panyako called on their members to stay put, saying the strike was still on.
They said the strike would only be called off after the Government implemented the deal signed in 2013 awarding them a 300 per cent pay rise. The medics are also demanding promotions.
Operations in all public hospitals remain paralysed as the strike enters its second week.
On December 7, the court ordered the Kilimani OCS to serve officials of nurses' and doctors' unions with a court order suspending the strike.
Wasilwa had ordered the officials to appear in court yesterday to explain why they should not be committed to civil jail for disobeying a court order.
Nurses are demanding a pay increment of between 25 and 40 per cent, saying they signed a collective bargaining agreement with the Government in 2013 that was yet to be implemented.
Last Wednesday, the Government offered a Sh50,000 increase for the lowest paid doctors, which would raise their salaries to Sh176,000, but the unions rejected the offer and even walked out of talks.
The unions are also asking for a review of working conditions, job structures, promotion criteria and staffing numbers.
