Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya at a past event. [Photo/Venas News]
Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya now says counties don't have enough funds to meet the striking nurses’ pay rise demands.Mvurya noted that even the recent budget increase to counties by the National Assembly wasn’t enough for the counties to meet the demand by the nurses.“Counties can’t afford to pay the amount demanded by the nurses, and it’s not that we don’t want, but because that budget is not there,” said Mvurya as quoted by The Star.The county boss who spoke Tuesday in Kwale further termed the strike illegal.He said efforts by the Ministry of Health, the Council of Governors and the nurses' union to resolve the stalemate hit a snag, forcing counties to look for alternative solutions to prevent more deaths in public hospitals.He stated that the CoG was ready to hold talks with the union in a bid to resolve the crisis.“The problem is such that dialogue can’t go on when one side is not ready to move any closer to the offer. We care a lot and that is why we have been in talks with the nurses, who we are urging to go back to work,” he said.