Why the government need to address the ongoing nurses’ strike

The ongoing countrywide nurses’ strike is quite disturbing. The general objective of devolved governments was to bring services closer to the people.

However, since 2013 when devolution was constitutionally inaugurated, striking health workers including doctors and nurses, has become the norm. Consequently, patients who depend on public hospitals have continued to bear the brunt of the incessant strikes.

Reading between the lines, it seems that most counties were not adequately prepared to accommodate health workers who previously used to work for national government. Low remuneration, delayed salaries, biased promotion, poor working conditions and failure to remit statutory deductions have been cited as some of the areas of bone of contention.

On the flip side, experienced health personnel like doctors have preferred to work outside the country where terms of payment and working condition are better thus massive and insidious brain drain. The problem of striking health workers in this country should be a thing of the past.

Kenyans religiously pay their taxes with expectation of best services. Therefore, lack of quality health services in counties is a great disservice to the citizens. The time for the government to address the matter is now to prevent untimely deaths of poor patients.