•Addressing the press Monday, Waiguru observed that the contracts for the 9,000 workers comes to an end in May 2023 and there was a likelihood of services being interrupted.
•She expressed fears that there was a likelihood of services being interrupted in the counties.
Image: COG/TWITTER
The Council of governors now wants the national government to provide funds to allow counties to renew contracts for health workers employed under the UHC programme.
This, Council's chairperson Ann Waiguru, said this should be based on the current market rate salaries.
Addressing the press Monday, Waiguru observed that the contracts for the 9,000 workers comes to an end in May 2023 and there was a likelihood of services being interrupted.
"There is a potential disruption of health services if the staff leave hospitals due to lack of resources to sustain them," said Waiguru.
The Kirinyaga Governor also petitioned the national government to transfer the payroll management of the particular to the counties.
The statement by the governors comes in the wake of a pronouncement by Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Wafula that the workers are going to be retained on a permanent basis.
They had been engaged on a three-year contract “It was resolved that they be absorbed into a permanent workforce when their contracts expire as the experience and training they have already acquired will continue to support the County’s health systems,” said Wafula on December 2.
The governors who spoke after a full council summit at the same time called for an audit of all laws passed before the advent of devolution and after 2013.
This, the county chiefs said, is to align them with the system of governance.
Among the authorities formed as a result of the laws through executive orders by the former president, Uhuru Kenyatta is the Kenya tissue and transplant authority.
Others are the Kenya national public health institute order of 2022 and the National syndemic diseases control authority.
They noted with concern that such laws were interfering with the mandates of the counties.
Waiguru at the same announced that the Council will hold its first biannual conference in 2023.
She said the conference will be held in Uasin Gishu with dates set to be communicated.
The theme of the event, she stated, will be "10 years of devolution, the present and future".
This means the annual conferences will now be held after every two years.