Public health officers have suspended their nationwide strike after 94 days, agreeing to a 30-day break to allow negotiations with the government over their grievances.
The Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners Union (KEPHUPU) Secretary General, Brown Ashira, announced the decision in Kitui County following the intervention of Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, who pledged to facilitate talks aimed at resolving the dispute.
Ashira directed all public health officers, including those deployed at border points and county governments, to resume work within 24 hours.
"We want to ask all our members at the border points, at all the county governments here in Kitui, we want to ask all our members to resume duty in the next 24 hours as we give the duration of 30 days of negotiation time to be able to see our issues being addressed," Ashira stated.
The union has already signed a return-to-work formula with the Kitui County government and expects similar arrangements to be adopted by other counties.
According to Ashira, comprehensive negotiations with the national government are expected to take place within the 30-day window to address the outstanding demands that led to the industrial action.
The decision to suspend the strike was also influenced by growing concerns over Ebola cases in the country, with the union emphasising the critical role of public health officers in disease surveillance and prevention.
"In the wake of Ebola, we want to make sure that our population are protected, safeguarded by the well-endowed PHOs who know what their work is in terms of prevention," Ashira added.
The 94-day industrial action disrupted public health services as the union pushed for better working conditions, formal recognition and the resolution of long-standing employment grievances.
Among its key demands was the government's formal recognition of KEPHUPU as a registered union.
The union also called for the conclusion, signing and implementation of its pending Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), alongside the recruitment of additional officers and the nationwide deployment and payment of interns.
It further demanded that workers employed on contractual terms, including those engaged under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme, be absorbed into permanent and pensionable positions.
Other grievances included the payment of risk allowances and improvements to working conditions to strengthen disease surveillance and the country's capacity to respond to public health emergencies.
The union also opposed the transfer of personnel and assets to the Kenya National Public Health Institute without adequate consultation with stakeholders or the provision of an independent budget.
The strike comes amid an ongoing dispute between county governments and the national government over responsibility for implementing health sector agreements and integrating workers into the public service.
Former Council of Governors (CoG) Chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi previously accused the Ministry of Health of contributing to recurring health worker strikes by failing to honour agreements reached with unions.
Speaking months ago, the Wajir Governor alleged that Duale and other national government agencies had failed to implement intergovernmental agreements, triggering repeated industrial action by doctors and workers employed under the UHC programme.
However, Duale has placed responsibility for delays in integrating more than 7,400 UHC workers into government payrolls on county administrations.
The Health CS said Ksh8.6 billion had been allocated to facilitate the transition, while arguing that county governments remained the biggest obstacles to healthcare provision nationally.
The 30-day negotiation period now provides an opportunity for the two levels of government and the union to address the outstanding issues and prevent a return to industrial action.
