Plans by the Ministry of Health to absorb all the workers under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) have suffered a major blow.
This is after the Council of Governors (CoG) expressed its reservations over an announcement made by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale.
Duale had announced on Monday, August 25, 2025, that 7,600 UHC staff would be absorbed into permanent and pensionable terms beginning September 2025.
The CS said the decision followed the conclusion of a verification exercise.
Why have governors differed with Duale over UC staff absorption?
However, CoG, in a statement issued on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, stated that it did not agree with Duale’s announcement.
According to CoG Health Committee chairperson Muthomi Njuki, the Ministry of Health’s announcement about the absorption of UHC staff contradicts the previously agreed position between the National and County Governments.
“It was agreed that the Ministry of Health would allocate adequate resources as per the approved Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) salaries before transfer of the payroll to the county governments. Since the contracts are still valid, the decision to transfer the staff at this time is premature and untimely,” Njuki said in the statement.
On the verification report quoted by CS Duale, the governors noted the exercise had not been validated and officially shared, and therefore, “the process of transfer that the ministry is proposing is not agreed upon”.
In addition, the county bosses maintained that UHC staff are currently engaged on contractual terms and are hence entitled to gratuity, which they want fully settled before they are transferred to them.
Are governors ready to absorb UHC staff?
They maintained that while they remain committed to absorbing verified UHC staff and facilitating their salaries in line with SRC-approved salary scales, that can only be done once the allocation of the resources has been disbursed to counties, as well as the gratuity obligations have been honoured.
“The council recommends that the National Government, through the Ministry of Health, allocates and channels the attendant resources to County Governments to facilitate the absorption of UHC staff as per the County HR policy; failure to which, the absorption of the UHC staff will be untenable,” the CoG affirmed.
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