Relief for patients as nurses in Busia suspend strike

Patients wait to be attended to at Busia County Referral Hospital. [File, Standard] Nurses in Busia County have suspended their strike for 90 days following an agreement with Governor Paul Otuoma's administration. The union leadership signed a return-to-work formula which would see the implementation of the 2017 Collective Bargain Agreement (CBA). Kenya National Union of Nurses Busia branch James Emusugut urged members to report back to work as the county addresses their demands. "We have suspended the strike that begun on July 8, 2025, for 90 days, and we are requesting our members to report back to work," said Emusugut. "We have signed a return-to-work formula of 2017, and on the issue of nurses and uniform allowances, we were pushing from Sh20,000 to Sh30,000, but Busia County has agreed to implement it within three financial years," he added. Emusugut said that the county has been working on some issues that are yet to be implemented. "We have not agreed on the issue of third-party deduction, but the county has agreed to pay SHA by this August, within the first 30 days of signing the agreement," he said. Busia County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Health, who is also the Deputy Governor Arthur Odera, said the county is committed to fully implementing the healthcare workers' demands. "The county is fully committed to fulfilling the medics' demands so that they can have a good working relationship with their employer," said Odera. The deputy governor said some of the demands need more time to analyse and implement, and they require huge financial support. "Some of the demands have huge financial implications; we have asked for one month to look at our wage bill to be able to analyse and take it to the cabinet before we can implement them," said Odera. Last week patients were stranded at the Busia County Referral Hospital after nurses downed tools. Jane Anyango had brought her brother, Joseph Aderi, to hospital a week ago for surgery after he developed a spine problem following a grisly road accident. Her brother who was in pain had not been attended to for the last two days by nurses who were on their third week of strike. . Anyango called on the county government to address the nurses grievances to ensure smooth service delivery. Violet Omoto, the nurse in charge of Busia County Referral Hospital, said they were not admitting patients during the strike period. "We are not admitting at all because all nurses are on strike. Our maternity is not working because there are no nurses to look after the new mothers," said Omoto. She said only the outpatient section was operating. "Generally, in most of our wards, nothing much is going on. Like in the child-born unit, we have a few children who are below 1 kilogram, and we are closely monitoring them. In the general ward, we have 22 patients whom the doctors have attended to, and five of them have been discharged. Those remaining are in bad condition, where their relatives cannot take them out, while others have no relatives to come to their rescue," said Omoto. "However, in the outpatient section, things are going on as usual; the laboratory, physiotherapy, X-ray and dental units are operating."

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Relief for patients as nurses in Busia suspend strike

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