County executives read mischief in calls to revert health to National Govt

Dr Andrew Mulwa, the national chairman of county health executives. He says counties are reading mischief in calls to revert the management of healthcare services to the National Government. PHOTO | PIUS MAUNDU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Dr Mulwa accused Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia of working to ensure the health function goes back to the National government.
  • He particularly criticised the National Government for withholding until August 20, 2015 monies meant to pay salaries of county workers.
  • He said while counties have undergone challenges in managing healthcare, the attendant benefits outweigh the challenges.
  • He promised that counties will expedite the promotion of health workers.

The National Government is wrong on claims that counties are unable to manage healthcare, county Health executives have said.

Through their national chairman Dr Andrew Mulwa, the health chiefs said they read mischief in protracted calls to revert healthcare management to the National Government.

“Leaders behind the clamour to revert healthcare management to the National Government are ignorant on what the law says on devolved functions,” Dr Mulwa, who is also the Makueni County Health executive, said Monday.

“Once a function is devolved, it remains so until the county governments write expressing their inability to handle it,” he added, saying that healthcare management is yet to defeat county governments.

Alternatively, he said, to reverse a devolved function requires a national referendum.

BETTER HEALTHCARE

He, however, said such a referendum would be defeated since people are enjoying better healthcare services with devolution.

He accused Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia of working to ensure the health function goes back to the National government, a move he said is manifested in the recent strikes by health workers.

He particularly criticised the National Government for withholding until August 20, 2015 monies meant to pay salaries of county workers, which he blamed for strikes by health workers in Nyeri and Nakuru counties.

According to Dr Mulwa, the timing of the strikes when MPs are interrogating the contested Health Bill, 2015 underscores the machinations employed by the National Government to wrestle healthcare management from the counties through “unconstitutional pieces of legislation.”

On why counties have been hesitant to promote clinicians as claimed by striking workers, he said: “We were unable to process promotions of healthcare workers since the National Government had been withholding their personal files until July this year.”

With the files at their disposal, he promised that counties will expedite the promotion of health workers.

He said while counties have undergone challenges in managing healthcare, the attendant benefits outweigh the challenges.