County governments have been assured of the commitment by the National Assembly to have Health remain as a devolved function.
The National Assembly Speaker, Justin Muturi says the National Assembly will not approve the transfer of the health function to the national government saying instead MPs will ensure the function remains at the county level.
He has called for tolerance from the governors as the parliamentary Committee on Health crisscrosses the country to assess the situation of health service delivery in various counties before developing a comprehensive report to be tabled in parliament for debate.
Speaking in Kisii on Friday, Muturi who was responding to Kisii Governor James Ongwae's reservations on the Health Bill before the National Assembly which governors have opposed, he said county bosses should not panic over the pending bill.
Muturi said that already, the Council of Governors has met with the Parliamentary Committee on Health and have shared several issues affecting the health sector in the counties, something he said will inform parliamentary deliberations when the bill comes up for debate.
"The Constitution is very clear that no transfer of function from any one level of government to the other will take place without negotiation and consultation," said Muturi.
Muturi's sentiments comes amid claims by governors that the MPs want to revert the health function to the national government through the proposed health law.
They claim it contains provisions that undermine devolution.
Health Cabinet Secretary, James Macharia in August said the national government would not sit down and watch as the health sector plunges into a crisis, a statement which has not been taken well by the governors.
“We have a responsibility to Kenyan people to solve the problem; the constitution wasn’t done for the heck of it. It was done to serve the Kenyan people,” the CS was quoted by Citizen Digital.