Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu pays an Impromptu Visit to patients at Machakos Level 5 Hospital. Photo Virginia Seibela 
By Virginia Siebela
A healthcare crisis is unfolding in Machakos County as the nurses’ strike entered its fourth day, leaving patients stranded and critical hospital services crippled.
The walkout, part of a nationwide industrial action by the Kenya National Union of Nurses and Midwives (KNUNM), has left wards empty and some facilities partially shut down.
During an unannounced visit to Machakos Level 5 and Kangundo Level 4 hospitals, Senator Agnes Kavindu painted a grim picture—cancer patients going without painkillers, stroke patients sent home without treatment, and accident victims left unattended.
In a passionate appeal, Senator Kavindu urged the county government to engage the nurses immediately and meet their demands to avert further suffering.
“The governor must act now. Where exactly do you want a patient on oxygen, with broken limbs, or severe burns to go?” she asked. “The nurses gave a two-week ultimatum. Why wait until they down their tools? If you had a signed agreement with them, the honorable thing was to honor it. On humanitarian grounds, this matter must be resolved without delay.”
Kavindu also called on the National Treasury to release hospital funds immediately, warning that health is a matter of life and death.
She challenged county governments to account for hospital revenues and channel them towards drugs and staffing.
KNUN Machakos Branch Secretary-General Michael Saka said the strike will continue until the county implements the SRC salary review, honors return-to-work agreements, promotes staff as per career structures, and addresses overwork.
Chief Officer for Public Health Simba Mwako defended the county’s response, saying only patients close to recovery were being discharged.
“It is even ungodly to discharge someone under oxygen,” he said, noting that some nurses had been engaged on locum to help contain the situation.
Mwako, however, criticized the senator’s visit, suggesting the presence of a politician may have influenced patients’ accounts.
With Machakos residents enduring disrupted care and the strike showing no sign of ending, Kavindu’s call for urgent dialogue underscores the mounting pressure on county leaders to find a solution—before more lives are put at risk.
