Wamuzi News Ke
With just Sh405 billion of the Sh536 billion requested for the 2025–26 budget cycle, the National Treasury has left devolved units gasping for air—sparking fears of a full-blown operational paralysis at the county level.
To make matters worse, Sh94 billion meant to be disbursed between March and May remains unpaid, with the clock ticking and services hanging by a thread.
Now, the Council of Governors (CoG) is demanding an emergency sit-down with President William Ruto to confront the funding freeze and a looming healthcare payroll disaster.
“We are being set up to fail,” warned Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi, who also chairs the CoG. In a tense five-hour meeting, the governors voiced outrage at what they say is a dangerous dereliction of duty by the national government.
“Eleven counties are owed Sh7 billion. The total unpaid balance across all 47 counties? A staggering Sh34 billion,” he revealed.Even after the County Governments Additional Allocations Act was signed over a week ago, not a single shilling has reached the counties.
Yet the national government is barreling ahead with a controversial plan: starting July 1, 2025, the payroll of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) staff will be dumped on the counties—despite the glaring lack of funding.
Aden Duale’s bombshell came in the form of a formal announcement from the Health Cabinet Secretary, claiming national coffers can no longer carry the burden of these healthcare workers.
But governors are calling foul, accusing the state of offloading a crisis of its own making.“The national government is abandoning its responsibilities—and violating the Constitution in the process,” fumed Abdullahi.
He insists that the Constitution allows the state to issue conditional grants during national emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic, which should’ve been used to fund the hiring of health personnel.
Instead, he says, the state opted to hire directly, leaving counties to clean up the mess now that contracts are ending.The UHC workers—demanding permanent jobs or payment for their six years of service—have taken to the streets, protesting outside Parliament and the Ministry of Health.
Governors warn that taking on these workers without extra resources will push counties into financial collapse.“Duale is trying to pass a ticking time bomb to us,” blasted Abdullahi.
“Where is the money to absorb them?”Muthomi Njuki, chair of the CoG’s Health Committee, echoed the warning. “This transfer must be frozen.
The Ministry of Health must first resolve every staff complaint and guarantee funding. Otherwise, they can keep the payroll,” he said.And in a stunning twist, governors slammed the national government for gifting them surveillance vehicles instead of releasing actual funds.
“Are we being bribed with cars while our hospitals shut down?” one governor quipped.Njuki raised another critical question: “How are we expected to insure these vehicles when they’re still registered to the national government?
If one crashes, who’s liable?”As the impasse deepens, counties teeter on the brink of a healthcare catastrophe—caught between an unfunded mandate and a Treasury that seems to have turned its back.
