By P, KNA
Members of the public and Siaya leaders are demanding the immediate arrest of senior county security officials, who allegedly unleashed a gang of goons on striking nurses, beating and injuring them.
Led by Siaya Township member of the County Assembly, Obiero Otare, and officials of the Siaya Passengers Service Vehicles (PSV) Union officials, they called on the police to round up all the goons, who took part in the exercise and bring them to justice, adding that the county cannot be allowed to degenerate into lawlessness.
Addressing the media outside the Siaya county assembly, Otare said the senior Siaya county government enforcement leadership cannot escape scrutiny for allowing unknown goons to access the governor’s office compound shortly before the mayhem.
“The head of security must come out and tell the public how the goons accessed the compound, got issued with the clubs, before unleashing terror on the nurses who were exercising their democratic right,” said the MCA.
The MCA said that the nurses were simply exercising their democratic right as enshrined in the constitution and all that was needed was for the executive to give them an ear.
Otare said the nurses strike was not unique to Siaya to warrant such a barbaric violence to be meted on them.
“In Kiambu, health workers’ strike has been going on for more than 120 days now,” he said, but called on the Kenya National Union of Nurses to engage the relevant bodies and find a solution that will see them return to work.
Also, officials of the Siaya PSV union, led by secretary general Ochieng Hillary Omondi, coordinator, John Oloo and Fredrick Obiero condemned the incident, saying that anybody, who was hired to mete out violence on the health workers must be prepared to carry his own cross.
They said they will cooperate with the police to trace and flush out any one behind the incident, adding that they will not allow a few individuals to taint the image of the matatu industry.
Scores of nurses were seriously injured Tuesday, when a group of youths wielding clubs turned on them outside the Siaya county headquarters.
The nurses, who had demonstrated along the Siaya town streets, had gathered outside the headquarters’ gates for hours, before the youths were ushered in shortly, causing mayhem right in front of the police.
Addressing the media later, the nurses under the leadership of Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) Siaya branch Secretary, Kennedy Hamisi and Chairman, Denis Omolo, said they had peacefully assembled outside the County offices when the goons were unleashed.
Hamisi said that at least 20 nurses sustained injuries and five mobile phones were stolen during the chaos.
He said the nurses will extend the strike for another 30 days to allow the injured nurses time to recover.
KNUN Siaya branch chairman, Denis Omolo expressed outrage over the matter, adding that it was disgraceful for a senior security official to unleash goons on them as police officers stood by doing nothing.
The branch treasurer Roseline Oywer and Naomi Musila, a nurse at Sigomere Sub-County Hospital, who suffered injuries during the melee, said they had their phones stolen during the attack.
The nurses are protesting several unresolved issues, including the non-remittance of statutory deductions, failure to implement the Salaries and Remuneration Commission circular and delays in honouring their collective bargaining agreement.