KUCO reveals why clinical officers are striking again
Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) has yet again resumed its strike that kicked off on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, at midnight.
Speaking during a televised morning show with one of the local TV stations this morning, KUCO chairman Peterson Wachira highlighted some of the reasons why the clinical officers have resumed their strike, barely three weeks after suspending a similar strike.
According to Wachira, the clinical officers have been locked out of the Social Health Authority (SHA) system, and they are therefore unable to attend to Kenyans seeking services at level three and level four health facilities.
“The reason why we are going on strike is because we have been locked out of the system of SHA, and Kenyans are unable to access services. Kenyans are suffering,” he said.
SHA standoff
Wachira further noted that when they called off the first strike on January 14, 2025, the leadership of the Council of Governors (CoG) had directed SHA to onboard clinical officers and their facilities, but the authority has refused.
“Funny enough, when we called for the first strike in January, the leadership of the council of governors sat with the PS at the Health Ministry, and the CoG reviewed the laws and agreed that SHA was at fault. They wrote down a directive and signed it, directing SHA to onboard clinical officers and their facilities, but four weeks down the line, SHA has declined to do that,” Wachira said.
Under the current setup, Wachira says that clinical officers cannot see patients under SHA, and in most cases, they will be forced to dig deep in their pockets or get referred to a level 5 facility where they can now be attended to under SHA.
Strike
KUCO on Monday, February 17, announced the resumption of their strike due to the Ministry of Health and the Council of Governors failing to address unresolved issues.
These include progress in Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations, enhanced medical coverage, and the implementation of career guidelines, which have now resulted in fresh disruptions to public healthcare services.
They had initially suspended the strike after striking a deal with the Ministry of Health and the Council of Governors.
“We received a letter from the Council of Governors, dated February 14, 2025, requesting a 21-day extension for CBA negotiations, but several critical issues were omitted, such as the scheduling of the next CBA meeting and the commitment to absorb Universal Health Coverage (UHC) staff into permanent and pensionable positions,” KUCO said.
The union stressed that these omissions have forced them to resume the strike, which now affects all public healthcare facilities, including national referral hospitals.
