A dispute is brewing between the Council of Governors (CoG) and the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) over the mandatory registration of ambulances and emergency medical personnel.

In a letter written to all governors, CoG has dismissed KMPDC’s directive requiring counties to register all ambulances and emergency medical staff by today, September 15, 2025.

The Council termed the directive unconstitutional and an encroachment on devolved functions, as health is devolved.

According to the KMPDC notice, counties were to register all ambulances providing emergency medical services, as well as paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), ambulance operators, and other healthcare workers involved in pre-hospital care.

The directive stated that failure to comply would result in prohibition from operating ambulances or offering emergency medical services.

But in response, CoG chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi, in a letter, protested that the directive violates previous agreements between the Ministry of Health and counties, accusing the ministry and its semi-autonomous agencies of reneging on commitments to cooperate and consult on the matter.

“The Ministry of Health and its semi-autonomous institutions have reneged on the resolutions and agreements made towards cooperation and consultation on the subject matter,” reads CoG letter in parts, which advised county governments to disregard the public notice and treat it with the contempt it deserves.

The letter further stated that directing governors was unconstitutional and accused the ministry of attempting to encroach on a devolved function, arguing that the KMPDC Act does not confer any functions to any level of government.

Abdullahi explained that on September 2, 2025, a meeting was held at CoG offices attended by top Ministry of Health officials, the Digital Health Agency, and the Social Health Authority (SHA) during which a proposal was floated on establishment of a centralized ambulance dispatch center within SHA to facilitate access to the Emergency Services Component under the Emergency, Critical and Chronic Illness Fund (ECCIF).

The governors resolved that any operationalisation of ECCIF must align with county governments’ mandate over ambulance services.

At then, SHA was tasked to work with county technical officers to develop a workable framework for ambulance coordination.

Further, a follow-up meeting was held by County Executive Committee (CEC) Members for Health on September 5, 2025, in Mombasa, where KMPDC Chief Executive Officer Daniel Kariuki briefed county health executives on plans to develop national ambulance and emergency care standards.

The proposed centre, according to KMPDC, would harmonise emergency medical care, guarantee equitable access for citizens, and lay the foundation for a nationally coordinated emergency response system.

The centre was also meant to improve efficiency in evacuating accident victims and other emergencies to hospitals.

However, county health executives rejected the plan, citing a conflict of mandates between the two levels of government.

The meeting, according to Abdullahi resolved that SHA needed to engage with county governments before the proposed ambulance and evacuation services are launched to ensure proper frameworks are put in place for coordination between the county ambulance dispatch systems and the SHA system

But as Council waited for a way forward on the matter, it learned about the stamping of the proposal through the media.

“The Council received with utter shock a public notice by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council published on September 8, 2025, in the media,” said Abdullahi. 

Despite today being set deadline for registration, CoG dismissed the consequences that come with failing to comply with the directive.

“Accordingly, the threatened consequences of non-compliance with the notice are of no effect to counties performing their constitutional mandates,” added the COG boss in the letter.