Nurses defy order to end strike

Nurses in government hospitals on Sunday defied a court order to resume duty.

The court had withdrawn their industrial action rights granted last week and ordered them to resume work.

They have, however, continued with their strike over better pay and registration of their union. (Read: Nurses ordered to resume duty after judge cancels strike rights)

At the Coast, the nurses said they were waiting for directives from their national union office on the court order.

Speaking to the Nation over the phone, a Coast nurse’s union official, Mr Peter Moroko, said they will wait until the secretary-general of the unregistered Kenya National Union of Nurses, Mr Seth Panyako, orders them to resume duty.

In a telephone interview with the Nation, Mr Panyako said: “The order presented is not enforceable.”

He said that the nurses’ strike is still on until their demands are met.

Two weeks ago, the nurses obtained an order that required the government to give them audience over their grievances.

“The order we obtained is that the government was supposed to engage the nurses’ union as presently constituted. So far only the Public Service Commission (PSC) has been receptive. The secretariat will give us minutes of the meeting we had with them last week.” said Mr Panyako.

He added: “They said the same will be presented to the PSC once it has been constituted. The other ministries we were supposed to meet have treated us with arrogance.”

Mr Panyako said they had requested to meet permanent secretaries of the ministries of Medical Services, Public Health, Labour and Public Service but “that was not the case and instead they sent junior officers to intimidate us”.

Mr Maroko added that their union will go to the Court of Appeal to challenge the ruling.

At the same time, patients continue to suffer at government hospitals in Mombasa.

Ms Sarah Njeri is among the many Kenyans who are suffering due to the strike.

Narrating her ordeal at Axis Nursing Home in Mwembe Tayari, where she has been held due to her inability to clear her Sh40,000 hospital bill, Ms Njeri said she lost her baby.

“I had labour pains when I went to the Coast General Hospital to deliver, but I was shocked to find the nurses on strike. The doctors did not assist me. I lay there writhing with labour pains until a Good Samaritan ferried me to a private clinic where I delivered through Caesarean section” she said.

However, her pain worsened when her baby died during birth.

Service delivery at Nyahururu District Hospital remained poor as nurses continued with their boycott despite an order by the Industrial Court that they resume duty as the government seeks ways to address their demands.

A survey by the Nation showed that only a few senior nurses were providing services at the usually busy mini-referral facility that serves 10 districts. The maternity wing had some nurses while the other four wards for men, women and children remained closed.

Reported By Winnie Atieno, James Kariuki and Edith Fortunate