By Anchor Health Writer

In a quiet corner of Machakos County, a remarkable display of resilience and compassion unfolded, revealing the heart-wrenching struggles endured by patients and families in a system at a breaking point.

At the Machakos County Referral Hospital, where a prolonged medics’ strike has brought the bustling facility to a near standstill, a group of ordinary women became unlikely heroes, stepping up when no one else could.

On a Sunday morning, as clinical officers and nurses remained absent, they took on the responsibility of delivering a baby—an act of pure humanity that highlighted both the community’s strength and the hospital’s heartbreaking void.

Victoria Wambua was among these women, there to care for a family member when she found herself called to a different kind of duty.

“We had no idea a heavily pregnant woman had spent the night with us in the waiting bay until we heard her in labor. She was alone, terrified,” Wambua recalls, her voice tinged with sorrow and resolve. “We didn’t think twice. We told the men to vacate, spread out our lessos, and did what we could.

“As the women helped Joyce Nduku, the mother in need, through each contraction, a hospital watchman scrambled to find medical help—only to return and see that the women had already guided the mother to deliver her baby boy.

These women, a collective of caretakers who had been staying night after night in the waiting bay, banded together without any medical supplies or professional training—except for Wambua, who had limited midwifery experience. Yet they were driven by something more powerful than training: empathy. Easter Kanini, another caretaker, explained, “How could we sit and watch as a woman suffered like that? We had to act.”

For Joyce Nduku, the gratitude she feels is as intense as the ordeal she endured. Holding her newborn son, Morris Mwendwa, she recounts the challenges she faced just trying to access care. Nurses had twice advised her to go to a private clinic that would charge her Sh12,000—a sum well beyond her reach. “I felt abandoned, as though my life and my child’s didn’t matter,” she said, clutching her son tightly in her modest home in Mwanyani Village. If not for the compassion of those women, Nduku fears what might have happened.

But the scene in the hospital parking bay is just one small glimpse into a far larger crisis enveloping Machakos County. As the strike drags into its fourth week, families across the region are desperate, trapped between a healthcare system in turmoil and the financial burden of private alternatives. The hospital, a critical facility serving not only Machakos but also nearby counties, has become eerily quiet. Patients have been left to navigate a labyrinth of indifference, mismanagement, and mounting obstacles on their own.

The situation has turned tragic for many, especially as negotiations between medics and county officials reach an impasse. The clinical officers and laboratory technicians, who have been appealing for fair pay and safer working conditions, feel ignored, their demands consistently brushed aside. “It’s as though we don’t exist,” says Joab Okumu, chairman of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union for Kitui, Machakos, and Makueni counties. “The medics’ cries for help are landing on deaf ears. We are not bluffing.”

The medics serve two masters at a go-, the county government, on the one hand and private clinics on the other. The county administration can not do anything about this, yet the medics keep on demanding more promotions and attendant remuneration.

Meanwhile, Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti has issued stern warnings, threatening to dismiss those who continue the strike. She is becoming the county’s laughing stock due to her penchant to issue dismissal threats. Recently as she faced embarrassing moments before the Senate Public Accounts Committee, Wavinya could be heard telling CECM Finance Onesmus Kuyu” Nimuvuta inywonthe”-( I will dismiss you all)

Senator Agnes Kavindu has called for a more comprehensive resolution, urging the county to address staff promotions, unpaid dues, and the challenges within the Social Health Insurance Fund. Yet these calls have done little to ease the suffering of patients caught in the middle.

In the hospital corridors, the stress is palpable. Deputy Governor Francis Mwangangi has acknowledged the frustration and limitations the county faces, citing insufficient funds from the national government. Together with his boss Wavinya, they face the  daunting task of resolving mounting issues in the county.

But promises of action feel hollow to those who remain without care. “We’ve been promoting medics for the longest, but this has only raised more concerns,” he noted, hinting at the county’s reluctance to meet all the medics’ demands.

Dr. Muya Ndambuki, County Secretary, has made it clear that those still striking will not be compensated for missed days, further deepening the divide. The CS, sources say, is developing a list of close to 700 county doctors who are soon to dismissed.

For the Machakos County Referral Hospital, the strike has exposed longstanding issues, from medicine shortages to allegations of theft of medical supplies. These systemic cracks have turned into gaping chasms, as patients and families find themselves neglected and without options.

Three medics and several county officials are now facing charges tied to the theft of medical supplies, fueling even more public frustration.

Yet amid this grim reality, the women who rallied around Joyce Nduku serve as a powerful reminder of resilience, empathy, and the indomitable human spirit.

They stepped forward when no one else could, offering what little they had to ensure the safe arrival of baby Morris Mwendwa.

This simple act of compassion speaks volumes about the strength of the community, a flicker of light in an otherwise dark chapter for Machakos County.

As the hospital remains silent and negotiations continue to stall, residents wait with hope for a resolution that will bring back the care they so desperately need.

Until then, the story of the women in the waiting bay stands as both an inspiration and a call for change—a testament to the power of humanity even when formal structures fail.