Clash over transfer of maternity funds

Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya (left) addresses the press during a meeting with Members of County Assembly and administrators from the county at Starbucks Hotel in Eldoret town on November 12, 2015. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The Council of Governors (CoG) on Thursday accused the national government of failing to involve the counties in the process, saying the new directive will make access to the programme by mothers bureaucratic.

  • According to the Ministry of Health, the government will this year spend Sh4 billion to pay for one-year National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) insurance for pregnant women and those from poor backgrounds.

  • Health Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri on Wednesday said the NHIF will pay for deliveries in both public, faith-based and private hospitals in a move to increase transparency of the programme.

  • But COG Finance Committee Chairman and Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya instead asked the National Treasury to send the funds directly to counties in line with the Constitution that devolves Health.

Governors have opposed a plan to transfer the Sh4.2 billion free maternity funds to the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).

The Council of Governors (CoG) on Thursday accused the national government of failing to involve the counties in the process, saying the new directive will make access to the programme by mothers bureaucratic.

According to the Ministry of Health, the government will this year spend Sh4 billion to pay for one-year NHIF insurance for pregnant women and those from poor backgrounds.

Health Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri on Wednesday said the NHIF will pay for deliveries in both public, faith-based and private hospitals in a move to increase transparency of the programme.

But COG Finance Committee Chairman Mr Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega governor) instead asked the National Treasury to send the funds directly to counties in line with the Constitution that devolves government health services.

“NHIF has in the recent past been riddled with allegations of mismanagement of funds and boardroom wars, something that we fear will affect the free maternity programme,” he told the Nation.

“Transferring the programme to NHIF will also mean all mothers have to contend with the bureaucracies of having to register with the scheme to access the services,” he added.

The free maternity care, Jubilee’s flagship pledges in the 2013 manifesto, is jointly managed by the Ministry of Health and county governments.

Its management has, however, been shrouded by counter-accusations between the two governments, with governors accusing the State of delaying release of funds.

According to Mr Oparanya, whereas the programme was a welcome idea by the county governments, little had been done to improve its efficiency.

Mr Oparanya said the move was meant to undermine devolution. He said since inception, a majority of counties have been forced to cough out funds from their budgets to run the project. “We have faced cash constrains with allocations for 2014/15 and 2015/16 not released to the counties. It is our prayer that the national government fast-tracks this programme so that mothers do not suffer,” he said.