UHC medics reject Health CS Duale’s directive on payroll transfer to counties, demand permanent terms
The medics said they would not accept being moved to the counties under what they termed “stipend arrangements.”
Universal Health Coverage (UHC) staff have rejected the government’s plan to transfer their payroll to county governments without addressing long-standing concerns about job security, gratuity and permanent terms of service.
The medics said they would not accept being moved to the counties under what they termed “stipend arrangements.” They insisted that the transition must align with terms set by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
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“We UHC staff reject in totality the resolutions on UHC staff made yesterday between the government, MOH & the union. If payrolls are to be transferred to the counties, they should be transferred as per SRC terms and not as stipends,” the medics said in a post on X.
They also criticised the government’s failure to pay their long-overdue gratuities, despite five years of service under contract.
“We have UHC staff, having served five full years now on contract. We believe our due gratuity, which is way long overdue, should have been paid like yesterday. Clearly, the government – MOH eats its own people,” they added.
The backlash follows Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale’s announcement on Tuesday that, beginning July 1, the payroll management for 8,751 UHC staff will officially be handled by county governments. According to Duale, the counties will receive adequate funding to maintain the current stipend structure during the transition period.
He further said the government had allocated Sh7.7 billion for the absorption of the medics into permanent and pensionable (PnP) terms and that service gratuity payments would be considered after the transition.
“The meeting resolved that the Ministry of Health shall transfer the management of UHC staff payroll to counties effective July 1, with an attendant budget for payment of stipend under the current terms in the interim,” he said.
“County governments will be provided with additional funds before the expiry of the current UHC contracts for purposes of full absorption to permanent and pensionable terms.”
Duale ordered all staff who are off duty to resume work by May 7.
However, the announcement has triggered uproar among the health workers, many of whom were first deployed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. They now plan to stage a nationwide strike starting Monday, May 12, vowing to hold vigils at Afya House until their demands are met.
According to Desmond Wafula, the national chairperson of UHC staff, the decision was made without consulting their official representatives. He dismissed any agreement signed by the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) Secretary General, Seth Panyako, on their behalf.
“It is very unfortunate that Dr Ouma Oluga, the new PS for Medical Services and a renowned and respected unionist who even crafted the 2017 KMPDU CBA, was part and parcel of a meeting designed to oppress us,” Wafula said in an interview with Nation.
“He has totally misadvised the Health CS on this matter. As from Monday next week, all UHC staffers will down their tools and camp at Afya House day and night until what we were promised is delivered and our rights respected.”
Wafula outlined two options for the government to avert the strike.
“Option one, each UHC medic must be issued a PnP appointment letter as our payroll gets transitioned from the Health Ministry to the counties. In this case, we are willing to continue with the current consolidated salaries despite them being far below market rates,” he said.
“The second option is that UHC staffers must receive full salaries aligned to current market rates as determined by SRC. In addition, a legally binding agreement must be signed by all relevant parties, including UHC representatives, the Health Ministry, CoG and unions, outlining the terms of absorption and timelines.”
The medics lamented that despite their sacrifices during the pandemic, including the loss of colleagues like Dr Stephen Mogusu, they continue to be neglected and exploited.
“We were deployed across the 47 counties of the country to serve the nation… Some of us even died before getting our first salary,” Wafula recalled.
“We hoped that the government would reassess our service terms post-pandemic as a gesture of appreciation. Little did we anticipate the ensuing struggles that have now gone into the fifth year.”
He revealed that at least 10 of his colleagues had died by suicide due to the frustration and lack of support from the Health Ministry.
Wafula also criticised the Council of Governors (CoG) for excluding UHC staff from recent county recruitments, while awarding jobs to politically connected individuals. He added that the CoG had proposed an additional two years of half-pay contracts if counties receive budgetary allocations, extending the period of underpaid service to six years.
“County governments have been continuously advertising various health positions, excluding staff under the UHC programme, while some positions go to girlfriends and relatives of county officials,” he said.
“We now question the urgency of transferring payrolls under unfavourable terms.”
In response to the backlash, CS Duale defended the government’s decision and questioned the legitimacy of the UHC staff’s leadership.
“UHC staffers had leaders, and they knew their leadership was coming to see me. There are a few of them who have not reported to work for over a year now, and we decided to let it go and not punish them. In principle, we have closed that chapter because I have so many other medics to take care of; they are not the only ones,” he said.
“These UHC staffers work for and belong to counties, not the Health Ministry. The Health Ministry was just managing the payroll, but their employer is county governments.”
The looming strike now places the Ministry of Health and county governments at the centre of yet another healthcare crisis, with over 8,500 medics threatening to withdraw services unless their grievances are addressed.
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