President William Ruto’s UHC, industrial parks plan has suffered after MPs slashed county budget by Sh15.30 billion.
MPs axed Sh15.30 billion allocated to counties, jeopardising the President’s plans for Universal Health Coverage and promoting industrialisation through industrial parks.
Senators have expressed dissatisfaction with the National Assembly’s decision to reduce the allocation for community health promoter stipends by Sh660 million.
The MPs reduced CHP’s allocation to Sh2.58 billion from Sh3.24 billion. The move would be particularly hard on the CPHs hired by the government and counties to anchor UHC.
The agreement requires the national government to contribute Sh3 billion, with counties contributing the same amount to pay the allowances.
The now-impeached Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua, announced the Sh3 billion stipend payment programme for the health promoters in February.
“We are calling on counties to fulfill and maintain their end of the bargain. Indeed, quality healthcare is not beneficial to the people. It is a constitutional right that we must exercise together,” Gachagua stated.
The MPs amended the allocation and approved by the Senate in the County Governments Additional Allocation Bill, 2024.
They approved a report from the National Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee outlining the challenges.
The MPs have also reduced the budget for County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIP) by a whopping Sh2.5 billion.
CAIPs are being established under a joint funding framework, with the national and county governments contributing Sh250 million each.
The senate allocated Sh250 million to each of the Sh47 counties.