UHC nurses protest over terms

A combination force under Kenya National Union of Nurses from the North Rift region, mainly Nandi, Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet, West Pokot, Turkana and Trans Nzoia in a demonstration in Eldoret. They were protesting delayed salaries, working conditions including allowances among other emerging employment requirements. February 13, 2025. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

Nurses contracted under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program drawn from Nakuru, Laikipia, and Nyandarua Tuesday protested outside the Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital demanding to be employed on permanent and pensionable terms and their salaries harmonized.

Simon Irungu, a UHC Nurse from Nyandarua said that they were employed during the Covid-19 period and they risked their lives being on the frontline considering the risks and dangers they endured.

"We are demanding the government listens to us, you cannot be working for three years without gratuity. When everyone was working from home during the COVID-19 time, we were working in these hospitals. We need to be employed permanently," said Irungu.

He added that failure of the government to place them on permanent and pensionable terms will result in significant disparities in remuneration compared to counterparts on permanent contracts.

"Immediately we transitioned last year, some of our colleagues were not paid for three months because they were not on the payroll because we are under the National government. We don't have county patients and national government patients, we are being discriminated by other Nurses on Contract and permanent employment," he stated.

Samuel Kongo a UHC health worker from Nyandarua County noted that the county has been conducting interviews to employ others permanently without considering the UHC nurses who have been working at the facility for six years.

"We were contracted by the government five years ago, they are conducting interviews as we speak. Our issues are that we have been working under difficult circumstances where we are paid a consolidated salary compared to our colleagues under permanent contracts. There was a promise last year to change this status quo, but unfortunately, it's yet to be realized," Kongo said.

The health workers who have been on strike since 4 February 25, 2025, are demanding that their salaries be harmonized, they also want gratuity for the five years they have worked under the program.

"Since 2020, we have worked without a gratuity, we are even training some nurses who left school and we even train them, when opportunities arise they are taken permanently and we are left earning peanuts. The disparity has led to discrimination in nursing service and practices," said Grace Muigai a UHC worker from Nakuru.

They also called on The Governors, the Ministry of Health, the Public Service Commission, and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission to ensure our gratuities are paid in full before we resume work and they are employed permanently.