By Martin Masai
Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti has today fanned the embers of the raging nurses’ strike, accusing union leaders of colluding with local politicians to frustrate her government.
Furious throughout the press conference, Wavinya used the moment not only to lash out at union leaders but also to sidestep her own failure to honour agreements she signed with nurses. The strike, now in its second week, is rooted in the county’s repeated breach of return-to-work formulas that were meant to settle earlier disputes.
In a blistering attack, the governor claimed union officials had abandoned their mandate to protect nurses and instead “dined with politicians” intent on sabotaging her administration.
“It is unfortunate that union officials have chosen politics over the people,” she charged. “The welfare of Machakos residents must come first, not the ambitions of a few leaders who thrive in chaos.”
Her remarks did little to address the core grievance: that the county has consistently failed to implement its own undertakings. Wavinya is also under mounting pressure to deliver on promises she made just two months ago to all county staff—that they would finally be promoted and paid higher salaries after years of stagnation. Those commitments remain unfulfilled.
In an unmistakable show of defiance, Wavinya announced that the county was considering hiring nurses on locum contracts to restore services. She also directed the Department of Health to recruit 500 new nurses immediately.
At the same time, she sought to cast herself as a reformer grappling with inherited dysfunction.
She revealed that her government is burdened with massive debts, including a KEMSA bill exceeding Kes.100 million, unpaid electricity dues of Kes.59 million, and a staggering backlog of statutory deductions amounting to over Kes
3 billion.
“The public service I inherited was almost dysfunctional,” she said, pointing to missing Kenya School of Government certificates worth Kes
39 million as a reason for delayed promotions.
Without confidence, Wavinya pledged to unlock long-delayed promotions for county workers, including nurses who have stagnated for over seven years, saying promotions were underway for staff who had served between four and six years.
To blunt accusations of neglecting health, Wavinya trumpeted a sharp rise in the county’s health budget—from KSh38 million annually to KSh775 million this year.
But her most provocative order came at the close of her statement: she directed the County Public Service Board to stop remitting deductions to the Kenya National Union of Medical Laboratory Officers (KNUMLO) with immediate effect.
That move is certain to inflame tensions, with union leaders expected to see it as outright union-busting.
Wavinya’s presser fell flat on the public expectation that her remarks would unlock the strike and restore healthcare,end deaths and pain for patients, and inspire hope to county residents
With doctors also preparing to down their tools, the governor’s fury and hardline tactics risk tipping Machakos health services into total collapse.
The residents—who depend on those services—are left stranded, victims of a crisis deepened by political shadow-boxing and broken promises.
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