KUCO Threatens To Withdraw Critical-Care Staff In Nakuru As Talks Stall

By Elijah Cherutich

The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers has threatened to pull out more than 50 members still providing critical-care services in Nakuru County after officials failed to show up for talks meant to end a nationwide strike now in its sixth week.

KUCO national chairperson Peterson Wachira said union representatives had been invited to Nakuru County Teaching and Referral Hospital for discussions with county officials, but had been waiting since Monday without any meeting taking place.

Wachira said the union had exempted the officers from the strike so critical services could continue as negotiations went on. But because no progress had been made, the union would now withdraw them, he said, though he did not say when that would happen.

“Clinical officers are on strike, the nurses are on strike and therefore the facilities are operating on minimum service delivery,” Wachira said.

The move would add pressure to Nakuru County Teaching and Referral Hospital, which receives patients from across the Rift Valley. The county government said in 2025 that more than half of the hospital’s patients came from outside Nakuru, including from Baringo, Kericho and Samburu counties. Nakuru County runs 184 public health facilities.

KUCO’s Nakuru gender representative, Edna Nekesa, said the dispute involved delayed implementation of the union’s collective bargaining agreement, incorrect job placement and differences in pay across counties.

Nekesa said some clinical officers had not been placed in job groups that matched their qualifications and responsibilities, which had affected their pay and career progression.

The union says newly recruited clinical officers should join the public service at Job Group J under career guidelines approved by the Public Service Commission in May 2024. It alleges that some counties are still appointing officers under the abolished Job Group H.

Nekesa said the disparities had left members feeling neglected and had hurt morale and their ability to serve patients.

The nationwide strike began at midnight on July 20 after a 14-day notice issued by KUCO expired. The notice came after an earlier demand submitted by health-sector unions on June 17.

KUCO is demanding implementation of its CBA and an agreed health-risk allowance, payment of outstanding gratuity, and permanent and pensionable terms for eligible Universal Health Coverage and Global Fund workers.

The union also accuses county governments of failing to implement a return-to-work agreement signed with the Council of Governors on January 28. The deal ended an earlier 36-day nationwide strike and provided for the signing of a CBA on February 2.

Wachira said in an interview on August 19 that Nakuru was among the first counties to sign the agreement. The union says several provisions have still not been implemented.

Nakuru’s public health system is also dealing with a separate nurses’ strike. Hundreds of nurses downed tools on August 20 over unpaid July salaries, delayed career progression and what their union described as incomplete implementation of the 2017 CBA.

The overlapping strikes have reduced staffing at county facilities and increased the workload for those still on duty, according to the unions.

Separately, interns at Nakuru County Teaching and Referral Hospital appealed to Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale to ensure they were paid.

John Alex Omondi, who said he was speaking for interns in Nakuru and elsewhere in Kenya, said they were struggling financially while taking on heavier workloads during the strikes.

Omondi said the interns had been told they would be paid by the end of August. That deadline had not passed when he made the appeal.

The Ministry of Health deployed 6,784 health-care interns nationwide under the 2026/2027 internship programme in June. The government allocated Sh9.316 billion for their deployment and training. The group includes medical and dental officers, pharmacists, nurses and clinical officers.

By the time of publication, the County Government of Nakuru had not publicly responded to KUCO’s allegations or explained why the planned meetings did not take place.