Operations at public hospitals have been paralysed following the countrywide nurses strike.

Nurses downed their tools two days ago after making good their threat to take an industrial action over what they say is a breach of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) they signed with the Council of Governors (CoG) last December.

The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) had directed all its 45,000 members to strike starting Monday morning and only resume work when a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is implemented.

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) however rejected a new pay agreement for nurses, which had been negotiated by the Council of Governors.

CoG Chairman Josphat Nanok and counties’ health committee chairman James Ongwae said they had presented a proposal for Sh40.3 billion to the commission and that they were just waiting for a no-objection letter before implementing it.

SRC declined to issue the letter saying that CoG had ignored its recommendations.

The strike comes six months after they signed the return to work formula following the nine-day strike in December.

In the deal signed between the Council of Governors (CoG) and the KNUN officials in December, it was agreed that the county governments will sign the Recognition Agreement with KNUN and that the union would concurrently call off the strike as ordered by the court.

The Recognition Agreement now mandates counties to engage with the union on all issues touching on the nurses.

The parties also agreed that the deal will also be incorporated in the comprehensive harmonized CBA to be formulated within two months for the period between 2017-2021.

The National Government also agreed to offer nurses a monthly increase in nursing allowances amounting to Sh20, 000 for those in Job Groups G to L and Sh15, 000 for Job Groups M and above.