Universal Health Coverage (UHC) staff set to transition to permanent and pensionable terms will not receive gratuity for work done while they were on contractual terms, the government has now revealed.
State Department for Medical Services Principal Secretary Ouma Oluga disclosed that, despite previous assurances by the government, the thousands of health workers will not receive the funds, believed to be in the region of billions, owed to them since their employment in 2019.
While appearing on NTV on Wednesday, August 6, Oluga disclosed that the staff would not receive gratuity, as they would be entitled to a pension under the new permanent and pensionable (PnP) terms presented by the Health Ministry.
In a press statement released on May 13, the Ministry noted that UHC staff gratuity would be processed upon expiry of their contracts, with guidance from the Public Service Commission (PSC), an indication of the Ministry’s intention to pay the funds.
In the context of employment, gratuity is a lump sum payment given by an employer to an employee as a token of appreciation for long and dedicated service. It is a form of financial benefit that is paid out upon the termination of employment, which could be due to retirement, resignation, or the expiry of a contract.
In regard to the UHC staff, it amounts to 31 per cent of the annual gross salary. The gratuity owed to thousands of UHC workers is estimated to be in the billions of shillings, based on their significant number, years of service, and the substantial budget allocated for their payment.
For UHC staff, gratuity had been a bone of contention with the government, as non-payment of the funds had resulted in protests by the staff outside Afya House earlier this year for several days.
Contrary to the Ministry’s proposal to pay it upon the expiry of their contracts, UHC staff had demanded immediate payment of the monies, in addition to being hired on a permanent and pensionable basis.
“If you have a contract, say for three years, but somebody tells you, ‘I think I am gonna have you till you retire and I pay you a pension,’ tell me, where does gratuity come in?” Oluga quipped.
Further, Oluga stated that there was no provision for the payment of gratuity in the UHC workers’ contracts, explaining that the extension of the contracts from the initial three years to nearly six years did not necessarily mean that the terms of employment had changed.
Even so, he maintained that the PSC had proposed the introduction of gratuity, but only for those who would not be transitioning to PnP terms.
“If we pay you a gratuity, then it means we are saying goodbye to you. So what that means is that we will take our money, do advertisements, and employ any other Kenyan,” Oluga noted.
“If you are the same person that we are transitioning from a contract to PnP, there is no gratuity language,” he expounded.
UHC Staff Transition to PnP
The plan to transition the over 8,000 UHC staff to PnP was revealed in July 2025 by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale after a meeting with officials from the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) and the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO).
In the deal, over 8,000 UHC staff would make the shift after a July verification exercise involving the national government, the Council of Governors (CoG), and union teams. According to Duale, the process will entail accurate payrolls and guide staff integration into the nation’s health systems.
To facilitate the absorption, the government allocated Ksh7.8 billion to absorb 8,571 UHC staff into permanent positions.
Many of these healthcare workers were initially brought on board as part of the country's broader efforts to roll out the UHC programme, and their numbers were significantly increased in June 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. They were given three-year contracts, which meant their contracts were due to expire in May 2023.
The contracts were extended for one year, with the CoG later directing county public service boards to renew the UHC workers' contracts for a further three years (until May 2026), based on a letter from the Ministry of Health.
