President William Ruto has directed county governors to absorb the 7,414 Universal Health Coverage (UHC) workers into permanent and pensionable (PnPs ) jobs.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

President Ruto made the directive on June 14 while attending a church service in Kajiado County at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

He revealed that the national government has set aside Ksh8.9 billion under the 2026-2027 budget for this purpose and that no single one of the UHC workers will be left behind under this new directive.

“I want to ask you, governors, we have set aside Ksh8.9 Billion under the 2026-2027 budget, so that the over 7,400 under the Universal Health Coverage (UCH) who are in your county hospitals, who have been working under a contractual basis, these workers, who largely include nurses, will move forward be under a permanent and pensionable employment plan,” stated President Ruto.

📌 What You Need to Know

This money is meant to cushion counties as they transition UHC workers, most of them nurses, forming the backbone of healthcare services in county hospitals, from contractual arrangements into permanent and pensionable terms of employment.

For months now, governors and UHC staff have been locked in a heated standoff over this very issue.

The Council of Governors (GoG) insist their counties simply do not have enough money to absorb these workers without help from the national government.

Kakamega Governor Fernandes Baraza has been among the most vocal, arguing that counties cannot sustain the hires without dedicated disbursements.

This is because, before any payroll transfers happen, governors want pending gratuity payments cleared and equitable share allocations increased.

They are also pushing for clarity on the exact number of verified workers, since figures have been a point of contention with the Ministry of Health.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke