Kenyan government fires 25,000 striking health workers

Kenya’s government has fired 25,000 striking nurses who were protesting against the state’s failure to improve services in public hospitals and increase salaries. “The names of 25,000 nurses who are on strike have been removed from the pay roll,” government spokesman Alfred Mutua said on Thursday, adding that the country could “no longer sit and watch as Kenyans suffer in hospitals without medical attention because nurses and other medical staff are on strike.” The strike, which began on March 1, crippled public hospitals across the country. The situation is, however, expected to worsen due to the mass sacking. Kenyan Medical Services Minister Anyang Nyong on Wednesday warned the nurses of the government’s intention to sack them, in case they did not return to work. Meanwhile, Mutua announced the government’s willingness to hire new health workers to replace the fired nurses. “With the sacking of these nurses, we call on qualifies practitioners out there to start applying for these jobs immediately to fill these gaps,” Mutua said.