Panyako urges his union members to resume work

KNUN Secretary General Seth Panyako during the signing of a CBA with Tenwek Hospital at the Federation of Kenya Employers offices in Nakuru on February 18, 2019. [Harun Wathari, Standard]

Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) has called off the three week-long strike that had paralyzed health services in some counties.

The union Secretary General Seth Panyako suspended the strike urging his members to resume duties.

The KNUN official today appeared before the court to answer contempt of court charges, only to inform the court that the strike had been called off.

He was facing contempt charges for failing to call off the strike as directed by the court.

Nurses expressed their disappointment at the failure by the government to honour their agreement and vowed to follow the law in fighting for their rights.

Panyako accused a group of people of setting the union against the Presidency and the Judiciary by providing misleading information about the strike.

"We cannot allow an amorphous organisation to set us against the judiciary" said Panyako.

He, however, insisted that he had not been served with the court order saying that was a falsified information. He pledged to adhere to the rule of law.

"We respect the rule of law and if there was any perception that we said we will not honor the court orders, that was being misquoted," said Panyako after he left the court which discharged him from the case.

The Council of Governors had moved to court to seeking an order to stop the strike after the  nurses had refused to heed to president Kenyatta's order requiring them to get back to work.

The strike was a result of some counties failing to pay the agreed nurses allowances from July 1, 2018. Among the counties that were said to have honored the collective bargaining agreement include Migori, Mombasa and Machakos?