NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 19 – President William Ruto has directed county governments to immediately place all Universal Health Coverage (UHC) workers on permanent and pensionable terms, in a move anchored on ending years of contractual disputes that have disrupted the rollout of the program.
Speaking in Mombasa during the unveiling of the new Social Health Authority (SHA) cover targeting 2.2 million vulnerable Kenyans, Ruto assured that the National Government will shoulder the costs of absorption to ensure counties comply.
“For us to be able to deliver on this very important constitutional imperative, we must have men and women qualified and working in the health sector,” the President said.
The directive comes two weeks after Ruto urged counties to fast-track the conversion of UHC staff contracts, stressing that the health workers are “doing the heavy lifting” to guarantee the success of the scheme.
“We want to remove these workers from contract basis to permanent and pensionable positions. I want to ask county governments to consider making them pensionable starting October because we have the resources to do it,” he added.
The fate of UHC workers has been at the centre of a long-running dispute between the Ministry of Health and county governments.
Since the launch of the UHC pilot programme in 2018, thousands of health workers were recruited under contractual arrangements, sparking frequent strikes and work stoppages.
County officials have argued that the responsibility of hiring lies with the National Government, given that the programme was initiated from Nairobi.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Health has maintained that health is a devolved function, and therefore the duty of counties to absorb the workers.
The standoff has left UHC staff in limbo, with many serving on short-term contracts despite repeated assurances.
Trade unions have repeatedly warned that failure to regularise their employment terms risks derailing the government’s pledge of providing affordable healthcare for all Kenyans.
