Nurses, governors clash over CBA as strike persists

KNUNM Secretary General Seth Panyako addresses a media briefing on the ongoing nurses strike in Nairobi on September 1, 2026. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]

 Nurses have dismissed the Council of Governors (CoG) claims that their contested Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was signed under duress and is financially unsustainable.

The KNUNM Secretary General Seth Panyako said it is wrong for CoG to dismiss a CBA that is a binding document.

"The elephant in the room about our strike is CBA. This is where we are drawing a line. We do not have a deal yet," said Panyako.

Panyako accused CoG chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi of intimidating the striking nurses.

 "CoG is running away from an agreement made in 2027," said the nurses official. 

"He (CoG chairperson) is simply making a political statement that the CBA is too expensive to implement. Is it his money he is protecting? This was a document signed by respective government entities," he added. 

The union reiterated to intensify the strike across the country until their demands are met.

Nurses threatened to close all hospitals in Wajir and Mandera that are operating.

"We shall press on with the strike. We are going to close all hospitals in Wajir. There shall be no work in the county until the Governor feels the heat," maintained Panyako.

The union deputy secretary Maurice Opetu said nurses did not force governors to sign the 2017 CBA. 

"No gun was appointed on head of any signatory. It was signed in harmony, out of great engagement and agreement," said Opetu, adding that nobody should come out to claim the agreement was signed under duress. 

Opetu said it is worrying that instead of the government solving the strike, it is intimidating striking force.

"The governors have made nurses work under duress without a CBA. Working under duress made us go on strike to solve the matter," said Opetu.

"It is governors who have put us under duress. Governors have money to implement the CBA, but want nurses to live as paupers," he added.

KNUNM national chairperson Joseph Ngwasi claimed that the government is reluctant to resolve the dispute.

Ngwasi said Sh5.9 billion is required to fully implement the CBA.

"Why is nurses CBA dragging? Unfortunately, the nurses issue is not handled with much weight," said Ngwasi.