The country is staring at a looming health crisis after the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) announced plans for a nationwide strike set to begin on August 8, 2025, citing years of unmet promises and persistent neglect by county and national governments.
In a press briefing on Friday, KNUN leaders said that nurses across the country will withdraw their services unless urgent action is taken to implement longstanding agreements and resolve key grievances.
The looming strike, described by union leaders as the "mother of all strikes", threatens to cripple public healthcare facilities and leave millions without critical care. "Nurses have been patient enough," said Frederick Oigo, the Deputy National Chairman of KNUN. "If we take national action, the government will have no one else to blame.
We entered a return-to-work agreement in 2017 up to today, it remains unfulfilled." The union's frustrations stem from the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), a deal signed between KNUN, the Council of Governors, and the National Government to address pay, working conditions and job security.
