Clinical officers end their three-month strike.

The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) has called off their nationwide strike after more than three months.

In a statement following discussions with the Council of Governors, KUCO Secretary General George Gibore announced that they have signed a return-to-work agreement with the governors. He officially ended the strike, instructing their members to resume work immediately.

“We began our strike on April 1, after issuing a seven-day strike notice on March 25, and we have been on strike until today. By signing this Return to Work agreement, we are officially declaring that our strike has ended, and our members shall resume duty in their respective places of work starting today and no later than 24 hours from now,” Gibore said.

On June 23, the clinicians insisted that their strike would continue until all their issues were addressed. At that time, Gibore stated that out of the ten issues raised by the clinicians, only one concerning career progression had been agreed upon.

Clinicians initiated their strike on April 1 due to various grievances. The Employment and Labour Relations Court ordered the employers on May 9 to enter into a return-to-work agreement and register it in court by June 25.

The government had argued that it lacked the resources to meet some of the clinicians’ demands, such as hiring more healthcare workers and providing promotions. The clinicians demanded that the national and county governments issue permanent and pensionable confirmation letters to UHC staff hired during the COVID-19 period and recruit over 20,000 unemployed and qualified clinical officers to address the existing shortage.

Additionally, the union called for the government to provide comprehensive medical cover for all actively serving clinical officers in the public sector, ensuring they have access to medical services wherever needed.

“The issue has been implementation and prioritisation; there are no resources to provide healthcare workers with comprehensive medical cover that guarantees them the services they offer. This is why we have been on strike until now,” Gibore said.