Machakos clinicians issue 7-day strike notice over failed work agreement

Machakos County clinicians have issued a seven-day strike notice after talks with the county government collapsed.

Speaking at the Machakos Level 5 Hospital, the National Chairman of the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO), Peterson Wachira, said they were forced to wait for over three hours at the facility for scheduled talks, but no county official showed up.

The clinicians lament that since December, they have only received empty promises, despite the county governor having directed that they be promoted and given salary increments starting May this year—none of which has been implemented.

“It was an expression of lack of goodwill, and that is why we are giving the county 7 days from tomorrow,  and if this agreement will not be signed by then, we will withdraw the services of all clinical officers from county hospitals.”

They are now advising patients to prepare for the strike, blaming the county administration for violating a court order that required their grievances to be addressed.

George Gibore, the KUCO Secretary General, stated that 300 clinicians in the county have been neglected for over seven months.

He added that despite the availability of funds in the previous county budget, their issues have been ignored.

“We have fully resolved to give a seven-day strike effective tomorrow. For the next seven days, if the county government does not comply with our demands, we will withdraw our services because we have met our end of the bargain, and the county has decided not to obey,” said Gibore.

“Promotions were to be done in May, and upto now, it’s two months, and now that we have met the conditions of the judgement, we have given them notice because they must sign the agreement.”

KUCO Deputy Chairperson Boniface Mitambo noted that the county government has shown no willingness to honour the court order or engage in meaningful dialogue.

“We had several numbers of grievances, among them were delayed promotions, designations, and also adoption of a new career guide for clinical officers, which had already been approved by the national government,” he said.

“We feel that every time we have a timeline with the county, they always postpone, and therefore we can see that the county is not willing to obey court orders and has no goodwill to honour the negotiations which we have had.”

Through a phone interview, Machakos Health Minister Justus Kasivu assured that the agreement was ready for signing next week