The Kenya National Union of Nurses and Midwives has declared an indefinite extension of its nationwide strike, paralyzing public healthcare operations across all 47 counties. Speaking on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, after highly anticipated arbitration talks collapsed, Union Secretary-General Seth Panyako announced that nurses would not return to work. Panyako revealed that a formal notice has been dispatched to the inspector general of police detailing plans to mobilize 9,400 nurses and midwives from all branches to converge in Nairobi for a massive protest demonstration on Thursday, September 3, 2026.
The central point of contention remains the immediate signing and implementation of the disputed 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Council of Governors has outrightly rejected the union’s primary financial terms, with the council chairperson asserting that the legacy deal is politically unfeasible and too expensive to fund under current budgetary limits. While minor progress was made regarding administrative terms, including the conversion of universal health coverage contract staff to permanent and pensionable roles, the union withdrew from the table over a complete deadlock surrounding the core financial packages and harmonized salaries.
The continuous impasse persists even after Deputy President Professor Kithure Kindiki intervened, directing the Ministry of Health to urgently mediate between the hostile factions to resolve the rapidly deteriorating health crisis.
«” We do not have a deal yet; the Council of Governors are running away from the agreement that was made in 2017,” Panyako stated during a media briefing.
He reiterated that the strike remains firmly in force, heavily criticizing the Salaries and Remuneration Commission for intentionally stalling critical financial approvals.
The prolonged five-week strike has severely crippled large public referral centers like Mbagathi Hospital, which is currently operating below full capacity and surviving on temporary locum staff to maintain skeletal emergency services. Frustrated county governments have started taking retaliatory actions; the Kericho County administration under Governor Erick Mutai announced the emergency recruitment of 150 new nurses to forcibly restore services. Beyond salary harmonization, the striking workforce continues to demand strict career progression guidelines, enhanced risk allowances, and the immediate mitigation of severe understaffing that has left nursing students unsupervised in empty wards across the country.