Nurses strike is still on - sec gen Seth Panyako

The Kenya National Union of Nurses secretary-general has disowned a decision by three officials of the union to call off the strike.

Mr Seth Panyako said the national Chairman John Bii, deputy Secretary Maurice Opetu and the assistant Chief Trustee Alice Oreng are not mandated to sign any agreements binding the union on the strike matter.

"Three out of seven officials have decided to go ahead and declare [that] the strike has been called off yet they do not have the mandate to do so.

"I want the whole county to know that the strike is still on until the National Governing Council decides otherwise,” Mr Panyako said in Kakamega today.

He said his colleagues' decision to call off the industrial action is driven by greed, since it was done unprocedurally.

Mr Panyako said proposals reached during talks between the union and the government will be presented to the Council on Monday for discussion before a final decision is made.

He said two issues involving the signing of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and the court cases filed by the council of governors had not been adequately addressed.

"We cannot rush to call off the strike before the national governing council has discussed the two and given its position on the matter.

"It would be foolhardy to call off the strike when there are court cases hanging over [our] heads,” he said.