Council of Governors (CoG) Health Committee Chairperson, Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki, has raised concern over the fate of 7,476 staff working under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program.
Speaking in an interview on Sunday, August 31, Njuki warned that counties may face unrest if their payroll is not properly funded.
Njuki said the staff would require Ksh7.8 billion annually to be fully absorbed by county governments, excluding the cost of implementing collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and annual promotions.
He cautioned that unless the national government provides the funds, counties will be forced to contend with strikes that were previously directed at the Ministry of Health.
"7,476 UHC staff would require 7.8 billion every financial year, without taking into consideration the CBA and also other yearly promotions. Without the 7.8 billion that is supposed to be given to counties to absorb these staff, it only means that we will transfer the strikes from MoH to the 47 county headquarters," he said.
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Njuki faulted the arrangement where the workers are deployed to county facilities but remain on the Ministry of Health’s payroll.
"There was no necessity to have a pseudo arrangement where the workers are with the county governments, but the payroll is with the ministry," he added.
This comes a week after the CoG took issue with the Ministry of Health's recent announcement regarding the absorption of UHC staff.
In a press statement released on Tuesday, August 26, the governors' council disputed Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale's position on transferring UHC employees to county payrolls, arguing that the move contradicts previously agreed arrangements between the two levels of government.
The CoG insisted that the national government must first allocate adequate financial resources based on approved Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) salary scales before transferring UHC staff to county payrolls.
They argued that the proposed timeline is premature and untimely since the workers' contracts remain valid.
"The Ministry of Health should allocate adequate resources as per the approved SRC salaries scale before the transfer of the payroll to the county governments," the CoG stated in their response.
The council also disputed the validity of the staff verification process, which led to the removal of 215 workers from the payroll.
According to the governors, the verification report covering all 7,629 UHC staff members has not been adequately validated or officially shared with county governments.
The third central sticking point involves gratuity payments owed to UHC staff working under contractual arrangements.
The CoG maintained that the Ministry of Health must settle all outstanding gratuity obligations before any transition to county governments can occur.
"The UHC staff currently engaged on contractual terms are entitled to gratuity. Therefore, the Ministry of Health should settle all gratuity payments for UHC staff before their transition to County Governments.
"The Council of Governors reaffirms its commitment to working collaboratively with the Ministry of Health to resolve all matters related to UHC staff management in the spirit of partnership and in the best interest of strengthening health service delivery across the counties," the statement added.
