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Clinical officers bag permanent jobs and pay rise in deal
From right: Dr Phillip Kirwa, Chief Executive Officer of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, with Kenya Union of Clinical Officers officials George Gibore, Peterson Wachira and Xavier Wamalwa during the signing of a return-to-work agreement at the hospital in Eldoret on January 16, 2026.
Clinical officers will receive a salary increase of approximately Sh10,000 or more, following the signing of the country's first-ever Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between healthcare workers and county governments.
The deal guarantees each clinical officer a fixed risk allowance of Sh4,000, as well as additional increments ranging between Sh6,000 and Sh15,000 from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) salary review, depending on job group.
The adjustments, mandated by the SRC, affect both basic salary and house allowance, with higher job groups receiving proportionally larger increases.
All payments will include arrears dating back to July last year, equating to a significant seven-month payout, which will be reflected in February's salary payments.
“Most of these issues have been resolved and now await implementation, which we expect to start reflecting in the February salary,” Peterson Wachira, national chairman of the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (Kuco) said in an interview.
“If you combine the SRC salary review and risk allowance, the increase should be close to Sh10,000 or more. Depending on the job group. In addition, counties have to implement the SRC-advised salary increments with arrears, as well as the risk allowance.”
The agreement also secures a critical victory for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Global Fund-supported clinical officers who have worked on temporary contracts. UHC workers whose contracts expire in April and May will see their employment extended through June, then transition to permanent and pensionable terms beginning in July.
Similarly, Global Fund workers will follow the same pathway to permanent employment while also receiving 19 months' salary arrears owed to them.
These arrears fall under the Ministry of Health's jurisdiction and will be addressed through the Return-to-Work Agreement signed alongside the CBA.
To support these transitions, counties cite evidence from the National Treasury and the Commission on Revenue Allocation showing they received an additional Sh8.9 billion in allocations specifically meant to finance the shift to permanent employment, providing the financial space to honour the commitments.
The newly signed CBA establishes Kenya's first comprehensive employment framework for clinical officers at the county level, covering the entire employment lifecycle—from recruitment, retirement and exit from service.
It outlines clear working conditions, establishes grievance handling mechanisms, and creates a CBA Implementation and Monitoring Committee that will convene at least twice annually.
The agreement brings to an end a 36-day strike that began in December, during which clinical officers withdrew their services across all 47 counties.
The industrial action, which union representatives described as involving "quite tedious" negotiations, ultimately resolved most outstanding issues between clinical officers and county governments.
The deal was concluded and initialled at the Council of Governors, marking a significant milestone in Kenya's devolved healthcare system and potentially setting a precedent for future labour negotiations in the sector.
