President William Ruto has assured that the government will proceed with the employment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) workers on permanent and pensionable terms, despite stiff resistance and warnings from county governments.
Speaking in Mombasa on Thursday, September 4, the president said that the government has already released funds to cater for the salaries of the workers, in line with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) scale.
Since the Ministry of Health announced the absorption of the workers, governors have repeatedly claimed that the government does not yet have the capacity to implement this. However, the president asserted that his administration has sufficient resources to ensure that the workers are absorbed this month.
"These workers have suffered so much. We shall ensure that they are hired on permanent and pensionable terms, not contracts," Ruto said.
"We have already released funds to employ these workers, and I would like to assure the counties that, starting this month, we shall pay them in line with SRC recommendations, because we have the resources to do this," he added.
In a statement on Monday, August 25, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale confirmed that the government will absorb more than 7,000 UHC staff beginning in September.
The decision to absorb the staff was made after the State Department for Medical Services, in collaboration with the Council of Governors (CoG), conducted a verification exercise of all UHC staff across the country.
"Consequently, the remaining 7,414 staff will be categorised into two groups: those currently in active service and those with pending disciplinary issues. Staff in active service will be formally transitioned and absorbed with effect from September 2025," Duale said in the August 25 statement.
The move by the ministry was immediately opposed by the CoG, which claimed that the decision contravened the previously agreed position between the national and county governments regarding the absorption of the staff.
In a statement on Tuesday, August 26, the council's Health Committee Chair and Tharaka Nithi Governor, Muthomi Njuki, said that the government had not yet allocated sufficient resources to ensure seamless employment of the staff.
Njuki, who described the absorption of the staff as premature, added that governors had not approved the process, since the verification report of the UHC staff had not been validated or officially shared.
"The Council reiterates its earlier commitment to absorb verified UHC staff and facilitate their salaries in line with the approved SRC salary scales, once the allocation of resources has been disbursed to the counties and the gratuity obligations have been honoured," Njuki stated.
