By Martin Masai

Kitui Governor has thrown out the the Kitui County Supplementary Bill 2024 in the newest escalation of the fight between the County Assembly and the Executive.

Governor Malombe has consequently declined to assent to the bill and returned it to the assembly, recommending the reinstatement of nearly Kes. 230m to the budget.

In particular, Malombe also sought the removal from the budget of Kes 100m set aside for offices for the County Assembly Members, saying that the assembly does not have the capacity to absorb such a hefty amount of money in a single financial year.

In a memorandum to Assembly Speaker Kevin Katisya. Malombe categorically stated that the inclusion of the Kes 100m ‘This is against the position by the County Executive bearing in mind that the financial

allocation for Construction of the Assembly’s Office Block amounting to Kes. 190,558,553 has been re-voted for two (2) consecutive financial years i.e. Financial Years 2022/23 and 2023/24.

“Again, in terms of absorption, we have tasked our technical officers/ engineers to establish the amount that can be absorbed in Construction of Assembly’s Office Block in the current financial year”, the governor stated

Malombe added “The engineers have confirmed in writing that the CA can only absorb a

maximum amount of Kes. 86,997,555 in the current Financial Year. Huge amount of public money which cannot be absorbed in the fiscal year contravenes Article 201(d) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 that it is not prudent to allocate funds to a project in a financial year that are unlikely to be spent.”

Malombe lamented that the Controller of Budget (CoB) has been questioning why funds allocated for development has not been absorbed while the money could have been allocated to other development programmes to deliver services to the people of Kitui. Moreover, the County Assembly’s Office Block is a multi-year project and will be allocated extra budgets in the next years based on professional technical assessment by technical county public officials (Architects, Engineers, Quantity Surveyors)”

He added “Due to the shrinking fiscal space, Kitui county government does not have such funds and furthermore full absorption cannot occur this financial year. Further, the ceiling for the CA is determined by County Allocation on Revenue Act (CARA) which provides ONLY recurrent expenditure (i.e., Personnel Emoluments and Operations & Maintenance).”

The Kitui County Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2024”, was passed by the County Assembly (CA) on the November 27, 2024.It was presented to the governor to assent November, 28 2024;

“Now therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred to me by section 24(2) of the County Governments Act, 2012 and having reservations on the contents of the Kitui County Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2024, I decline to assent to the Bill for the reasons set out hereunder”

He requested the reinstatement of Kes 7.5m set out for his office to buy Police and Security Equipment – CCTV surveillance for Governor’s Block.

He also protested the reduction by Kes 20m a proposed vote of Kes 50,149,870 stated as other operating expenses. The fund was aimed to support, among other issues the governor’s travel, retreats with the MCAs and provision of hospitality services during special events hosted by the Governor. “These elements are critical for ensuring the safety of the Governor and proper hosting of stakeholders during key county events.” The governor says in the memo

Meanwhile,the Speaker has since committed the memo to the County Budget and Appropriations Committee.

The Speaker urged the Committee to keenly look into the memorandum as outlined and come up with a report that accomodates the needs of the people of Kitui and that’s in line with the law.

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