Nyeri governor says striking nurses won’t be sacked
Striking nurses from Nyeri County protest in Nyeri Town on May 22, 2017. Governor Wahome Gakuru has said he will not fire nurses who have been on strike for three months now. FILE PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- He said the striking nurses only need to be appeased.
- Governor Gakuru that firing them will not provide a better solution to mitigate the situation.
- CoG directed county bosses to replace nurses in their regions who did not report to work by Friday last week.
Nyeri Governor Wahome Gakuru has said he will not fire nurses who have been on strike for three months now.
He has broken ranks with his colleagues in Kiambu and Kirinyaga who have already advertised for the vacant posts and said he will engage the nurses in dialogue.
He said the striking nurses only need to be appeased, insisting that firing them will not provide a better solution to mitigate the situation.
The Nyeri referral hospital has been running since the nurses’ strike in June.
Though congested, it has accommodated patients from neighbouring counties and from as far as Lodwar, Turkana and Mombasa.
Patients in the female and male wards have been sharing beds while some get discharged to create space for patients with serious ailments.
The maternity wing is also full beyond capacity with new-born babies having to share incubators.
Health experts say putting two babies in one nursery is unsafe.
“Our hospitals are running and I have pleaded with several of them who have already returned to work,” Governor Gakuru said.
REPLACE NURSES
The Council of Governors directed county bosses to replace nurses in their regions who did not report to work by Friday last week.
Both Kirinyaga and Kiambu counties have placed advertisements in local dailies seeking qualified people to apply for the vacant positions.
“I do not have much of a crisis in the health department. There is no need to take such drastic measures when you can engage the nurses in a dialogue for the common good of the County,” said Dr Gakuru.
The governor had last month held a meeting with the nurses urging them to return to work.
But the nurses defied his calls and insisted they would not call off the strike until the national government addresses their grievances.
“We shall only call off the strike when our grievances are met and the unions’ Secretary-General Seth Panyako calls it off. We have the goodwill to go back to work,” said Ms Anne Nyawira, the unions’ Nyeri branch chairperson.
