Governors are now threatening to withdraw free maternity services in county hospitals if the national government fails to heed their call for the re-evaluation of medical charges for the pre-natal and ante-natal services to expectant mothers.
Led by Peter Munya, the council chair, the county bosses lament that the current subsidy announced by the Jubilee government leaves their governments with a financial burden as the funds set for the initiative is a drop in the ocean and cannot cater for the services offered.
"We want to query the cost of the entire service so that the nation can fully fund its initiative. The Jubilee government is only disbursing money for deliveries yet a lot goes into post-natal and pre-natal medical services. This should be discussed factored in the subsidies," Munya noted during an interview with a local newspaper on Sunday.
The governors say the government should fully fund the program as it owns it.
Munya, however, issued that the maternity services may see further subsidy only after counties and the national government agree on the implementation of another programme to be funded by World Health Organization.