The Council of Governors (CoG) has announced that county governments will begin paying doctors under the revised Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) rates from August 2026, saying a long-awaited approval from the national government had delayed implementation.

Speaking on behalf of the Council on Thursday, July 23, 2026, CoG Chair Ahmed Abdullahi said there is no dispute between county governments and the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), despite recent threats by doctors to resume industrial action over delayed implementation of the 2024 CBA.

The governors explained that counties have been unable to effect the new salary scales because they lacked a special payroll code from the Ministry of Public Service.

According to the council, the revised CBA placed doctors above the limits allowed by the existing Human Resource system, making the special code necessary before payments could be processed.

“For one year, we were waiting to get a special code from the Ministry of Public Service to allow us to pay the doctors their agreed rates in the CBA. We have just obtained it, and beginning August we will start paying doctors the agreed CBA rates,” the council said, adding that arrears accumulated during the delay will also be settled.

What made the delays

The governors noted that the delay was not occasioned by county governments but by the prolonged wait for the payroll approval mechanism from the national government.

At the same time, the CoG dismissed calls to return the management of health services to the national government, insisting that healthcare remains a devolved function protected under the Constitution.

The council argued that transferring health services back to the national government would require a constitutional referendum and cannot be achieved through administrative decisions.

“Health is a devolved function under the Constitution. Any attempt to reverse devolution would require the approval of Kenyans through a referendum,” Abdullahi said.

Dispute between UHC workers

On the ongoing concerns surrounding Universal Health Coverage (UHC) workers, the CoG maintained that the dispute should be resolved through the established intergovernmental framework rather than protests and demonstrations.

The governors blamed the national government for failing to honour previous agreements on the financing of UHC workers, saying timely implementation of those commitments would have prevented the current unrest.

“All we’re saying is, let every person keep their part of the bargain. Put this money where we’ve agreed this should be put, and we’ll pay the UHC workers. So, we want to tell UHC workers: this matter can only be solved through intergovernmental architecture; it cannot be resolved through demonstrations in the streets.”

They urged the national government to release the agreed funds to counties, saying this would enable county administrations to pay UHC workers and fully implement the agreements reached.