Health Ministry commits to resolving UHC staff concerns

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to resolving long-standing concerns surrounding Universal Health Coverage (UHC) staff.

This follows after a consultative meeting with the Kenya Union of Nurses (KNUN) and the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) at Afya House, Nairobi on Wednesday, where he confirmed that funds have been secured to transition eligible UHC staff to permanent and pensionable terms.

However, he stressed that this will be implemented only after a verification exercise scheduled for July is concluded.

The process will be undertaken by joint teams from the national and county governments, in collaboration with union representatives, and will involve a comprehensive headcount to reconcile national and county payrolls.

“This is a clean-up process to protect public resources. Only staff who are duly verified and submit the required documentation will be transitioned,” said CS Duale.

He emphasized that some UHC staff had been hired directly by counties and must be properly accounted for in the verification.

The outcome of the verification will guide the signing of the Return-to-Work Formula in August, paving the way for payroll harmonization, transition of staff to permanent terms, and eventual devolution of payroll management to county governments.

CS Duale urged the unions to mobilize their members to fully cooperate with the verification teams and present all necessary documents.

Also discussed during the meeting were the implementation of the revised salary structures by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and the integration of specialized clinical officers and nurses into the Social Health Authority (SHA) framework.

Further, Hon Duale appealed Unions support for the recently unveiled Quality Healthcare and Patient Safety Bill, 2025, calling it a significant milestone in transforming Kenya’s health sector.

He nderscored its potential to accelerate progress toward Vision 2030 and reinforce BETA priorities.

Present at the meeting were KNUN Secretary General Hon. Seth Panyako, KUCO Secretary General and CEO George Gibore, Dr. Daniel Mwai (Advisor to the Presidential Economic Transformation Council), Eng. Anthony Lenaiyara (Acting CEO, Digital Health Agency), and senior officials from the Ministry of Health.