By Anchor Writers

Machakos, Thursday, August 21, 2025 — The Machakos County Government has finally bowed to pressure from striking nurses, signing a return-to-work formula that for the first time ties payments and promotions to strict timelines.

In what union officials hailed as a rare climb-down, Governor Wavinya Ndeti’s administration ceded ground by abandoning its previous vague promises and agreeing to binding dates on promotions, salary arrears, and statutory deductions in the 16-point deal.

The agreement, signed in Machakos by Union officials led by Branch Secretary Michael Saka on the one hand- and County Secretary Dr Muya Ndambuki on the other, was done under the watch of the County Labour Ministry officials.

It sets a 30-day deadline for effecting promotions that have been pending since 2022, commits to pay arrears in phased tranches aligned to Treasury disbursements, and obliges the county to clear outstanding NHIF, NSSF and PAYE deductions within two months.

A joint monitoring team of county officials and union leaders will oversee implementation, while a standing conciliation committee has been created to resolve disputes before they spiral into strikes.

Union leaders said the deal closes the trust deficit that has haunted past agreements. “This is not a gentleman’s promise — it is a document with timelines that the county must honour. We will not accept open-ended pledges anymore,” a senior nurse said after the signing.
The concessions stand in sharp contrast to earlier agreements. The June 2025 formula collapsed within weeks after county officials tied promotions and payments to an “audit process” with no clear end, which nurses dismissed as fraudulent.

Similar deals in 2023 and 2024 were equally derailed by vague language pegging implementation on “budget availability.”

By fixing dates and creating oversight structures, the county hopes to restore credibility and prevent a wider strike wave, with doctors already threatening to join in over similar grievances.

For Governor Ndeti, the formula offers both respite and risk: while it may calm unrest in the short term, failure to honour the new deadlines could plunge Machakos into an even deeper health crisis.

Patients, meanwhile, can only wait to see whether the new pact holds. “This is the most concrete deal we’ve had in years,” one nurse said. “But the true test is whether the county keeps its word this time.”
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