Health workers' unions have threatened to go back on strike days after signing return-to-work agreements with the government.
Governors on Monday backtracked on a return-to-work formula signed by the doctors' union on December 24.
The Council of Governors was among those that signed the document but it now says the counties have no money to implement the agreement.
The CoG says the negotiations should have involved each county as individual units are already addressing the workers' issues.
Others who were present during the signing of the agreement include Health CS Mutahi Kagwe, CoG Labour Committee chairman James Ongwae (Kisii governor), KMPDU secretary general Chibanzi Mwachonda, chairman Samuel Oroko.
The signing was witnessed by Labour CS Simon Chelugui.
Clinical officers called off their strike on January 1 but now say the agreement is yet to be fully signed. The CoG was supposed to sign the document on Monday.
The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers has threatened to resume the strike should their return-to-work formula remain unsigned in full in the next 48 hours.
Secretary general George Gibore has accused the CoG of being insincere and unrealistic.
"The letter by the CoG is an admission that health services are not properly coordinated in our country since devolution and needs an emergency surgery to cure the unending health sector problems," KUCO SG George Gibore said on Tuesday.
The CoG on Monday said the issues raised in the agreements have huge monetary implication that have neither been factored in the current budget nor the forthcoming financial year.
It said a special conditional grant will have to be allocated to each county for implementation of the raised issues.
For instance, the governors say, funds will be required to provide risk allowance which requires a minimum increment of between 500 and 650 per cent to only two cadres.
“This will have a ripple effect to other cadres in the health sector and also requires SRC approval and availability of resources for sustainability,” CoG chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said.
He said each county government is an employer and recognition agreements are county specific and therefore the return-to-work formulas must also be county specific.
But Gibore accused the CoG of living in denial, saying individual counties have failed in the management of the health function leading to more than 103 strikes since 2013.
“The Council of Governors is being insincere and unrealistic by saying that the return-to-work formula be signed at individual counties yet acknowledge the ongoing conciliation at the ministries of Labor,” he said.
“The governors are now calling for trouble with healthcare workers. Without insurance, compensation and personal protective equipment there shall be no services in the health sector under the counties. Any further turmoil and suffering on Kenyans will squarely be on the CoG chair,” Mwachonda said.
He however said the conciliation process is ongoing and no strikes will be allowed. And added that respective county governments are at liberty to sign the return-to-work formulas.
According to the governors, conversion of contracts to permanent and pensionable requires astronomical resources that have not been factored in the current budget and the next financial year.
“Enhanced comprehensive group life requires resources to be allocated to pay up families of healthcare workers for a period of eight years. This requires time to work out actual figures. Further ... NHIF cannot work in all counties as some of them moved out of NHID due to poor services,” Oparanya said.
“Therefore, the monopolisation and centralisation of insurance services is not advisable as counties are in different insurance schemes for all their workers.”
Healthcare workers have hit back at the governors for opposing enhanced comprehensive group life insurance, yet on several occasions have said they have provided the same to the members.
Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya