Crisis at Machakos Level 5: Senator Kavindu Demands Immediate Action as Nurses’ Strike Paralyzes Services

Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu has raised the alarm over what she describes as a full-blown humanitarian crisis at Machakos Level 5 Hospital, following an impromptu visit to the facility on Tuesday. 

The Senator’s visit was prompted by an outpouring of distress calls from patients and relatives, reporting that the ongoing nurses’ strike had left critically ill patients unattended. On arrival, she was met with grim scenes — patients in severe pain with no medical personnel in sight, some struggling to move, while others had been discharged despite being too weak to leave.

“What I witnessed was devastating — human suffering in its rawest form. This hospital, meant to be a place of care and healing, has turned into a place of desperation,” Senator Kavindu lamented.

She described relatives taking on the role of nurses, feeding and assisting their sick loved ones, while others helplessly watched their conditions worsen.

Senator Kavindu has called on the Machakos County Government to treat the situation as an emergency and to engage with striking nurses without delay. She emphasized that finding a return-to-work formula must take priority over bureaucratic delays.

“This is not a political issue — it is a matter of life and death,” she stressed. “Our people are suffering in hospital beds and in their homes. We must put humanity first and act immediately to save lives.”

The strike, now in its advanced days, has crippled services at one of the largest referral hospitals in the region, leaving countless patients caught in the crossfire of the labor dispute.