President William Ruto has brushed aside county objections and confirmed that all verified Universal Health Coverage (UHC) staff will be moved onto permanent, pensionable terms effective this month.

Speaking in Mombasa on Thursday, September 4, Ruto said Treasury has already wired the money and that salaries will follow the latest rates set by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

“These workers have suffered so much. We shall ensure that they are hired on permanent and pensionable terms, not contracts,” the president told a coastal health forum.

The announcement overrules concerns raised barely a week earlier by the Council of Governors, whose chair on health, Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki, argued the move was premature.

Njuki said counties had not received the final verification report, had not approved the numbers, and were still waiting for Treasury to release funds earmarked for both salaries and outstanding gratuity.

Numbers locked in Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale had already set the stage on August 25, revealing that 7,414 workers cleared in a joint national-county verification would be split into two batches:

• Staff currently on duty – to be absorbed immediately.

• Cases still under disciplinary review – to be addressed later.

The dispute centres on who foots the bill.

Counties insist the 2018 transfer of health functions makes them the legal employer, while the national government argues the workers were recruited under a presidential programme and should therefore be on the national payroll.

If the President’s directives stand, the affected community health promoters, nurses and data clerks are expected to receive their first statutory payslips, ending years of stop-gap stipends.

Governors have not yet indicated whether they will mount a legal challenge, but county finance executives are bracing for potential budget holes if Treasury withholds further conditional grants.

Health as a devolved function already suffers from underfunding, with frequent salary delays for health workers.

We’ll be watching how the overburdened county payrolls handle this.