Nairobi — The standoff emerged during a Tuesday meeting between county chiefs and Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale.
Governors have rejected the Ministry of Health’s plan to provide one-year funding for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) staff, insisting that any absorption of personnel into permanent and pensionable terms must be backed by sustainable financing.
The standoff emerged during a Tuesday meeting between county chiefs and Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, with governors warning that the ministry’s directive to absorb 7,414 UHC workers, cleared through a recent verification exercise, undermines devolution and sidesteps constitutional consultation requirements.
“The Ministry cannot alter the contracts of the UHC staff without the involvement of County Governments,” said Council of Governors (COG) chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi.
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“The Council will only accede to the variation of the same upon the increase of the equitable share of revenue to factor the same.”
The ministry, however, presents the directive as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen healthcare delivery under the UHC programme.
County leaders are demanding Sh7.7 billion to cover salaries according to SRC-approved scales, and an additional Sh9.4 billion to clear gratuity payments owed to staff under existing contractual terms before any transfer is implemented.
Likewise, they insist that the ongoing verification exercise be jointly validated and that an official report be shared before the transition begins.
While reaffirming counties’ commitment to improving healthcare, Abdullahi emphasized that staff absorption should not be forced on devolved units without adequate resources.
He further called on health workers’ unions to exercise restraint amid growing agitation over pay and labor conditions, noting that counties were actively addressing grievances but required additional national funding to implement return-to-work agreements.
Governors also criticized the Public Service Commission for approving career guidelines for health cadres without consulting counties, warning that the financial implications were not reflected in county budgets.
They demanded that county staff be included in the national salary review, which had excluded devolved workers in the 2024/25 fiscal year, leaving a financing gap of Sh4.77 billion.
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