‘Let’s meet in court’ nurses tell Nyon’go

Written By:Winfred Kiziah,    Posted: Sun, Dec 16, 2012

The two weeks strike has paralyzed operations in a number of public health facilities across the country The National Nurses Association of Kenya (NNAK) has dared Medical Services Minister Anyang' Nyong'o to go to court if he believes the on-going nurses' strike is illegal. NNAK insists that they will not relent in their quest for better terms of service as well as having their union registered. The Association's Secretary General Seth Panyako challenged Nyong'o to instead seek legal interpretation from the courts. Nyong'o had published a press release terming the strike as illegal and directed the nurses to resume duty or get fired.  In response to the Minister's promise to hire more nurses, they urged all qualified nurses to take up the opportunity and apply for the jobs promised by the government. The striking nurses are pushing for the registration of the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN), whose application has been rejected by the Registrar of Trade Unions. The two weeks strike has paralyzed operations in a number of public health facilities across the country. Last week, KNUN Chairman Jophinus Musundi said the strike would only be called off after the Ministry of Labour issues the union with a certificate of registration. "The strike will only stop after the Ministry of Labour hands us a certificate of registration that will transform KNUN to a legal union," he said. "We learnt from the officials that the PM would by early next week have made a decision on the registration of our union," Musundi added. He said that KNUN has suspended its decision to move to court after the officials from the PM's office informed them that the PM was committed to ending the strike. "We informed the PM's officials that we do not want the strike to push us to seek legal action against the government, which would make the Kenyan public continue suffering at home," said Musundi. He said the nurses were being denied their right to be represented by a union. "The Commission, in accordance with the Labour Relations Act, 2007, requires all workers to be part of a registered union," he said. KNUN National Organizing Secretary Joseph Wadereva said that under the Act, their union was considered to be a deemed trade union despite having met all the qualifications to make them a registered union. "As a deemed union, KNUN lacks a certificate of registration that would make it a legally registered union, capable of owning a bank account through which its members' salaries would be channelled," he said. A registered union required a membership of over 50 representatives, filled application forms and a certificate of registration.