Governors call crisis meeting over UHC medics standoff and treasury’s e-procurement directive

Governors are set to meet in Nairobi on Monday for an emergency session to tackle a growing standoff with the national government over the employment of more than 7,400 Universal Health Coverage (UHC) staff and the rollout of Treasury’s electronic procurement platform.

The Council of Governors (CoG) says directives from the Health ministry and Treasury are unilateral, financially unsustainable, and risk crippling service delivery in key devolved sectors.

The Ministry of Health has ordered counties to absorb 7,414 UHC staff on permanent and pensionable terms beginning September 1 but has not provided the Sh7.7 billion required to pay their salaries. Governors have rejected the move, warning it will plunge counties into a financial crisis.

At the same time, Treasury has directed all tenders be processed through the e-GP (electronic Government Procurement) system, a directive already rejected by the National Assembly. Governors argue that Treasury has blocked them from uploading procurement plans into the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), stalling the implementation of county budgets.

CoG Chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi, in a notice dated August 28, invited all governors to the extraordinary session to deliberate on the “critical issues affecting service delivery,” namely human resource management in the health sector and the national government’s e-procurement directive.

In a separate letter to Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, Abdullahi warned that counties will seek legal redress if Treasury fails to lift “administrative blocks” that have paralyzed operations. He said the system’s failures are denying Kenyans essential services, particularly in healthcare.

Meanwhile, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale announced last week that the UHC workers would officially be absorbed into the public service from September 1. Duale said 215 individuals had been flagged as ghost workers or unqualified medics and removed from the payroll.

Medical Services Principal Secretary Ouma Oluga added that officers absent from duty will not benefit from the new employment terms.

The clash sets the stage for a showdown between the national and county governments at a time when health services and development projects are already under strain.