Kisii County senator Chris Obure has questioned the Sh59 billion national budgetary allocation to the health docket, when many of its functions had been devolved.
“It’s hypocrisy of the highest order for national government to devolve Health and still hold on to these money at the national level. This money is the total allocation to five big counties of Nairobi, Mandera, Kakamega, Wajir, Meru and Kisii combined,” said Obure, who was speaking in Kisii on Wednesday.
He said the move to allocate the huge budget to the ministry was indicative of the non-commitment to the spirit of devolution.
“The national government wants the devolved health function to grind to a halt so that they can have reason to repossess the function back to the national government,” he added.
“The counties are doing a great job. In some counties, including Kisii, we can now see CT scans, Ambulances and dialysis machines in just two years of devolution. Government has been here for 53 years. We cannot sit back and see devolution being scuttled,” added Obure.
Through devolution, he said, lives had been transformed and creating a synergy between the national and county government would boost performance of the health sector in the country.
Kisii County has so far built, upgraded, and equipped more than 74 health centres, increasing access to affordable medical services by 30 per cent.
Devolved units have acquired 51 kidney dialysis machines and reduced the cost of the procedure.