The striking nurses were issued with a return to work order by the President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday. Adamantly they did not heed to it, and Kenya National Union of Nurses firmly stated that they don’t take orders from State House.
On Thursday, the Council of Governors issued an order telling the nurses to obey the presidents order and get back to work by Friday, Feb 15) or get the boots. The Council of Governors who said that there would be headcount conducted across the country to identify nurses who will not have reported to work.
“The National and County Governments stand with the President’s pronouncement. A roll call will be undertaken by both levels of Government tomorrow, Friday 15, 2019 at 8 am and nurses who will fail to return to work will be dismissed and further necessary disciplinary action will be undertaken in accordance with the law, ” read a statement signed by Mr. Oparanya and Health CS Sicily Kariuki.
The nurses who claim that their pleas have not been heard listened to the orders and treats but heeded to non. they buried their heads in the sand and resolved to snub them with KNUN insisting the strike is still on.
The Kenya National Union of Nurses Secretary-General Seth Panyako asked the nurses “to remain firm.”
“The strike is a right and properly in place, we shall give them directions,” said Panyako.
“We are not responding to the President but rather the status of the ongoing strike across the country,” he said.
“The union leadership has a mandate drawn from our membership, the ongoing strike thereby is determined by the members through the branch leadership. We the national leaders can only be directed by the branch leadership.”
A spot check showed that nurses in the affected counties defied the presidential orders and stayed away.
Two days after the deadline expired, the national and county governments had not announced any dismissal of the nurses.