Governors Demand Resignation Of Ruto’s CS, PS Amidst Reshuffle Reports
The Council of Governors (CoG) has demanded the immediate resignation of Health Cabinet Secretary Debora Barasa and Permanent Secretary for Medical Services Harry Kimutai.
While speaking about the ongoing healthcare crisis, which has forced medical practitioners to close their doors in most parts of the country, the CoG blamed the stopped service on the CS and the PS.
CoG Whip Stephen Sang has accused Barasa and Kimutai of seeking to derail President William Ruto’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) plan, which is why they are stalling the sector.
“I am wondering if the Health CS and PS want to sabotage the president’s agenda on UHC,” Sang said.
“If you want to sabotage the agenda, then resign from those offices and allow other qualified Kenyans who can be able to deliver the services.”
Ailing health sector
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) February 28, 2025
The council of governors is calling for the resignation of Health Cabinet Secretary Debrah Barasa and medical services Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai over the collapse of health services in the country.#NTVWeekendEdition @MichelleNgele_ @DannMwangi pic.twitter.com/J5bzsM2pVZ
According to the CoG Whip, the country cannot have a statewide strike while transitioning from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to the Social Health Authority.
The CoG has said that it will call the CS Barasa and the PS Kimutai to explain why the country’s healthcare system is failing.
“As the CoG, we will take it to head on with the CS and PS, we cannot allow you to create an additional crisis around the UHC provision when we already have other problems about registration, capitation, and other issues we should be sorting out,” Sang assured.
The country has faced a number of medical-related difficulties. Doctors in Nairobi County formally stopped working on Friday, amid an ongoing strike by clinical officers and contractual health workers under the UHC.
The Chairman of the KMPDU Nairobi Branch disclosed that doctors could not continue to provide services due to illegal salary stoppages and dismissals.
In addition, there are chronic compensation delays, stopped promotions, unpaid gratuities for contracted doctors, and delayed confirmation letters for interns.
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“The problem is the government is not heeding to its promises; we had an agreement in 2023 that they never met, and now they are telling us to write another matrix where they will affect the promises,” Dr Deogracious Maero, KMPDU Chairman, Nairobi, said.
Aside from the strikes, some patients enrolled in the Rural & Urban Private Hospitals Association of Kenya (RUPHA) scheme who use SHA are currently unable to access health care.
RUPHA ascribed the pause on outstanding NHIF arrears, an impractical outpatient reimbursement mechanism, and government inaction in addressing long-standing issues.
On its part, the Ministry of Health has repeatedly told Kenyans, doctors, and other stakeholders that it is striving to ensure the sector operates smoothly.
Governors Demand Resignation Of Ruto’s CS, PS Amidst Reshuffle Reports
