Kenya's Doctors Warn of Strike Action as Nurses' Walkout Enters Week Six

NAIROBI, Kenya — Physicians in Kenya are warning they could walk off the job as a nurses' strike stretches into its sixth week, with doctors saying the added burden on their shoulders has become unmanageable. The nursing workforce has been off the job demanding that a collective bargaining agreement signed back in 2017 — following a six-month strike — finally be put into effect. The government has cited budget limitations as the reason the agreement has never been carried out. Dr. Davji Bhimji Atellah, the secretary-general of the doctors' union, stated Tuesday that physicians are already stretched thin and 'cannot do the nursing jobs.' He noted that hospitals were short-staffed on doctors even before the nurses walked out, and that delivering quality healthcare depends on all parts of the system working together. In a post on X, Atellah wrote: 'We will not watch silently as the healthcare system we have dedicated our lives to serving is allowed to deteriorate. When one part of healthcare is compromised, we all suffer. And when we stand together, we protect our patients together.' Atellah announced that the doctors' union has given the government a seven-day window to address the nurses' concerns. If no resolution is reached, the doctors will formally issue a strike notice. Also on Tuesday, hundreds of nurses marched to the office of the Council of Governors, the body that brings together Kenya's 47 county governments. The Council of Governors and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission were scheduled to meet that day to discuss pay and compensation issues. Seth Panyako, the head of the nursing union, said on Monday that healthcare is being left behind when government budgets are drawn up, forcing Kenyans to endure inadequate hospital care. He called it unfair to tell nurses — who work hard every day — that there simply is no money to honor an agreement that is nearly a decade old. Ahmed Abdullahi, chair of the Council of Governors, urged nurses last week to end their strike and allow time for negotiations. He pointed out that a court had ruled the strike illegal and warned that individual county governments could take action against nurses who continue to participate. One of the marchers, nurse James Murimi, walked five kilometers — about 3.1 miles — to take part in Tuesday's demonstration. He explained that the original return-to-work agreement was meant to improve nurses' uniforms and service allowances. 'Since then, these allowances have never been improved. And they have so far accumulated for nine years. So the COG, or the government of Kenya, or the National Republic of Kenya, owes us nine years' worth of arrears,' Murimi said. Kenya's Senate also took up the matter Tuesday, discussing reports of hospital dispensaries shutting down in certain counties. Sen. Samson Cherargei of Nandi County said there had been a 'surge in deaths' and placed blame on the Council of Governors and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission for what he called a 'national crisis.'