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Nurses and Midwives protest along the streets of Nairobi on August 25 2026 demanding the implementation of the CBA. [Collins Oduor, Standard]
Kenya's nurses have now been on strike for 44 days, and the country's health system is paying the price.
The Kenya National Union of Nurses is demanding full implementation of the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement, permanent and pensionable appointment letters for nurses recruited under Universal Health Coverage, and adoption of the revised career progression guidelines approved by the Public Service Commission over a year ago. None of these are new or unreasonable demands.
They have simply gone unmet for years, through successive rounds of negotiation and broken promises. Nurses are not alone. Doctors under the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union have their own grievance, over delayed implementation of salary adjustments anchored in the same 2017 CBA and a Return-to-Work Formula signed in 2024.
