[PHOTOS] Police lob teargas as medical workers strike

Police have lobbed teargas on hundreds of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) staff who staged a protest outside Afya House in Upper Hill, Nairobi.

This comes a day after county governments rejected a proposal to pay them starting July 1.

The workers took to the streets, carrying banners demanding absorption to Permanent and Pensionable (PnP) terms, job group re-designation and payment of due gratuity.

“Equal work, equal pay!” read a banner.

“We saved the nation, now the nation should save us,” another read.

The protests coincided with the absence of top Ministry of Health officials, led by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, who are attending the World Health Assembly in Geneva from May 19 to May 27, 2025.

Through their Health Sector Caucus, UHC staff issued a notice to Nairobi police informing them of the planned protests in the capital on May 20, 2025.

“An estimated 8,000 UHC staff are expected to participate in this course,” a notice by the lobby group reads in part.

The May 20 protests come amid a standoff between the national and county governments over the fate of 20,000 UHC workers currently employed by the national government.

The Council of Governors (CoG) stated on May 19, 2025, that it will not absorb the UHC workers into county payrolls, citing insufficient funding, discriminatory employment terms, and a lack of clarity from the national government.

On April 1, Duale pledged to address long-standing employment concerns affecting the UHC program within three weeks.