NAIROBI, Kenya — The Council of Governors (CoG) is set to meet striking nurses on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, as pressure mounts to end a nationwide strike that has disrupted services in public hospitals for more than a month.
Kenya National Union of Nurses and Midwives (KNUNM) Secretary-General Seth Panyako said nurses are prepared to return to work if negotiations produce an agreement acceptable to both sides, signalling a possible opening for a negotiated settlement.
Speaking during a radio interview on Wednesday, Panyako said the union was willing to make concessions at the negotiating table but expected governors to compromise as well.
“When you sit at the table and negotiate, it is what we call give and take. You cannot be taking everything and you cannot be taking everything,” Panyako said.
He confirmed that KNUNM had been invited for talks with the Council of Governors, although he said the invitation reached him only on Wednesday morning.
“Ultimately, we have a meeting this morning with the Council of Governors, but I just got the invite this morning, so I have informed my people, who are not even in town by now,” he said.
Panyako said union officials would attend once their representatives arrived, with the aim of identifying areas where both sides could compromise.
“We have some concessions to make, and they also have some concessions to make because that is the idea of the give and take,” he said.
2017 return-to-work formula remains key sticking point
Despite the willingness to negotiate, Panyako indicated that the union would struggle to completely abandon the 2017 return-to-work formula, which remains one of the central issues in the dispute.
He said KNUNM could consider phased implementation of the agreement, noting that the original deal was itself structured in three phases.
“One of the things we may not be able to give completely is the judgement that has already been issued in terms of a return-to-work formula of 2017. It can be implemented in phases because when you even look at that agreement, it is already in three phases,” Panyako said.
The 2017 agreement has remained a major source of disagreement between nurses and county governments, with the union maintaining that important commitments made after the prolonged industrial action have not been fully implemented.
KNUNM has previously said the current strike, which began on July 29, is driven by several unresolved issues.
These include implementation of the 2017 return-to-work formula, the nurses’ collective bargaining agreement, career progression guidelines and employment terms for workers engaged under Universal Health Coverage programmes.
Panyako has repeatedly maintained that nurses will not return to work simply on the basis of promises, but want agreements containing commitments that can be implemented.
On September 1, he said the strike would continue unless KNUNM and the Council of Governors reached an agreeable agreement.
Panyako questions treatment of county nurses
Panyako also criticised what he described as differences in the implementation of the 2017 agreement between national government institutions and county health facilities.
According to the KNUNM secretary-general, some national institutions have implemented the agreement while county governments have failed to do so fully.
“Only national institutions have tried to implement, like Moi Referral and Teaching Hospital, fully implemented. Kenyatta National Hospital is now fully implementing, and all other state corporations,” he said.
He questioned why nurses employed by county governments should be treated differently from health workers working in national institutions.
“The only problem we have is county governments, and we don’t know whether the county employees are children of a lesser God and those in government are the true Kenyans,” Panyako said.
“These are some of the things that need to be addressed,” he added.
The issue has become a central part of the union’s argument, with KNUNM maintaining that nurses performing comparable duties should not have fundamentally different employment terms simply because their employers fall under different levels of government.
Nurses’ strike enters critical phase
The talks come as the nurses’ strike enters a critical stage, with public health services continuing to face disruption in several parts of the country.
Nurses held demonstrations in Nairobi on Tuesday, September 8, as the industrial action reached its 40th day.
The demonstrations were intended to increase pressure on the Council of Governors and other government agencies to address the outstanding grievances.
Previous negotiations between KNUNM and the Council of Governors have failed to produce a comprehensive settlement, with the union insisting that implementation of existing agreements must form part of any deal to end the strike.
The prolonged dispute has also created pressure across the wider public health system.
Doctors threaten to join strike
Doctors have threatened to join the industrial action, citing increased workloads in public hospitals as nurses remain away from duty.
A doctors’ strike would potentially deepen disruption in public hospitals, increasing pressure on county governments and the national government to reach an agreement with the nurses.
The threat also highlights the wider effects of prolonged industrial action in the health sector, where the absence of one category of healthcare workers can increase pressure on others.
Governors under pressure to restore services
The Council of Governors has repeatedly called for dialogue while warning that some of the nurses’ demands have significant financial implications for county governments.
CoG Chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi has urged striking nurses to return to work as negotiations continue, arguing that the 2017 agreement was reached under difficult circumstances and has not been fully implemented.
Governors are also under increasing public pressure to restore services in county hospitals, where nurses provide essential services ranging from patient monitoring and treatment support to emergency and maternity care.
The prolonged strike has therefore placed county governments in a difficult position: they must address the union’s employment grievances while managing the financial constraints facing devolved health services.
Mombasa governor involved in negotiations
Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir, who chairs the CoG Health Committee, has previously engaged KNUNM leaders in an effort to resolve the dispute.
The union, however, has maintained that the disagreement is a national issue affecting nurses across all 47 counties, rather than a dispute involving an individual county government.
That position means a lasting settlement will require agreement between the union and the collective structure representing county governments.
