MPs push for Sh47 billion boost to secure UHC workers' jobs
The Health Committee said the ministry has also agreed to transfer the UHC staff to county governments from July 1, 2025.
A parliamentary committee is backing a proposal to add Sh47 billion to the Ministry of Health’s 2025/26 budget, part of which will be used to offer permanent and pensionable terms to thousands of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) workers who have threatened to strike.
The National Assembly Health Committee, chaired by Seme MP James Nyikal, told the Budget and Appropriations Committee that the additional funding will help retain 8,550 UHC workers whose contracts end in May 2026.
"The additional amount is critical. If the UHC workers are not sorted out, they will go on strike," said Nyikal.
The UHC workers have already issued a strike notice, demanding job security. Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale advised them to channel their grievances to Parliament, saying lawmakers hold the purse strings.
Out of the proposed Sh47 billion, Sh5 billion will be used to pay the workers’ gratuity, Sh4 billion has been set aside for their stipends during the financial year, and Sh3.8 billion is required to place them on permanent and pensionable terms.
The Health Committee said the ministry has also agreed to transfer the UHC staff to county governments from July 1, 2025.
"People cannot be in counties when their payroll is in Nairobi. Let the county governments handle it," Nyikal said.
A total of Sh4 billion has been allocated by the UHC Coordination and Management Unit to pay staff who were hired during the pandemic.
Additionally, counties are expected to receive Sh3.285 billion to support the 107,831 community health promoters, who are paid a monthly stipend of Sh5,000, split equally between the national and county governments.
Nyikal noted there was an agreement to have one level of government handle their payment.
The ministry has also been responsible for supplying health promoters’ kits, but no funds have been set aside in the 2025/26 budget for this, despite a Sh4.39 billion requirement to replenish the kits and consumables.
The proposed budget includes Sh33.9 billion for curative and reproductive health services, which had been affected by a freeze in US funding.
Another Sh4.3 billion is set aside for purchasing HIV drugs, family planning products and vaccines, as well as supporting GAVI and Unicef programmes.
In total, the Ministry of Health is set to receive Sh136.8 billion in the upcoming financial year — Sh110.7 billion for recurrent expenses and Sh26.1 billion for development — an increase of Sh708 million from the current year.
The ministry also plans to recruit 20,000 health workers, including 11,621 for primary care and 8,379 for other hospitals, and to deploy 1,200 interns as part of its medium-term goals.
