KENYA’S public hospital doctors union signed a return to work agreement with the government on Wednesday, ending a national strike that had begun in mid-March.

Union secretary general Davji Atellah said the doctors had agreed to trust the government to implement an agreement addressing poor remuneration and working conditions.

A labour court had on Tuesday given doctors and the government 48 hours to sign a return to work agreement or have the court determine the outcome.

Kenya Health Minister Susan Nakhumicha said the doctors had proved to be better negotiators than the government side and had put up “quite a fight.”

The end of the strike comes as a relief to millions of Kenyans seeking health services from public hospitals that had been crippled by the strike.

Some hospitals had decided to hire scab doctors for emergency services.

Doctors at Kenya’s public hospitals had previously held a 100-day strike in 2017 — the country’s longest ever — to demand better wages and for the government to restore the country’s dilapidated public health facilities.

Kenya is dealing with the devastating effects of flooding that has affected 235,000 people since mid-March when the rainy season started.