Mombasa: Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir has issued appointment letters to 286 newly recruited nurses in the county, in an event marking a milestone for the county’s healthcare workforce.
According to Kenya News Agency, the appointments come weeks after a nationwide nurses’ strike that had disrupted services at public hospitals across the country, including Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital, Port Reitz Hospital, and Likoni Sub-County Hospital. The industrial action was suspended after Justice Monica Mbaru of the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Mombasa, ruling on a petition brought by Mombasa County, declared the strike unlawful and directed members of the Kenya National Union of Nurses and Midwives (KNUNM) to resume duty.
Nassir stated that nurses who had participated in the strike would not face victimization. He directed the County Health Staff Management to devise a compensation plan for colleagues who remained on duty and worked extra hours during the disruption. He further pledged timely salary payments, promotions, and clear career progression pathways for the newly appointed nurses.
Addressing claims of tribal bias in the recruitment process, the governor highlighted the ethnic diversity of the nurses present at the ceremony as evidence against the allegations. ‘We were created in different tribes for no other reason other than to know each other,’ Nassir said.
Among the new policies he outlined were county payment of Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) costs for patients admitted at Level 4 and 5 hospitals, an 85 percent health cover for health professionals recruited on contract between 2019 and 2020 under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme, and free treatment for children alongside free food for pregnant women.
He also announced plans to increase the number of doctors within the county by the end of his tenure and to convert the employment terms of UHC nurses into permanent and pensionable positions. ‘We will collaborate and make all efforts necessary to have a healthy relationship with healthcare professionals, to avoid a situation where they go on strike, yet their issues have nothing to do with Mombasa County,’ Nassir said.
