By Andrew Wasike

Nairobi

Nurses in public hospitals in Kenya on Thursday called off a five-month strike that had crippled the health sector in Kenya affecting thousands of patients.

The caregivers under the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) on Thursday signed an agreement with the government after a lengthy meeting with the Council of Governors (CoG) in Kenya.

“I hereby declare that the strike that had begun June 5, is officially called off and our members are advised to go back to work,” KNUN Secretary General Seth Panyako told reporters in Nairobi.

“It was not our intention to have patients suffer due to a nearly collapsed healthcare system when the nurses were on strike and we really hope that such a strike will never happen again,” he added.

Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok, chair of the Council of Governors, said the nurses would be given what they had been fighting for: better salaries, risk allowance, uniform allowance, better working conditions, etc.