By Anchor Writers
Machakos county workers are in turmoil after salaries failed to hit their bank accounts, with September’s pay now delayed well past the mid-month mark.
Today marks the 15th day of September with no official word on when staff will be paid — a delay insiders blame on frozen budget approvals and what they call “chronic mismanagement” at the heart of Governor Wavinya Ndeti’s administration.
Even then, The Anchor established that hundreds of young contracted staff have endured eight months without salaries. “Most of them keep scavanging through county revenues that they can get in cash to keep them going.
“They are victims of official lies where the county set an impossible revenue target of Kes 4b that they used as an excuse to employ hundreds of new workers to attempt to attain”, said a source working deep in the finance system.
The county now uses over 60 percent of its revenue to pay salaries against the permitted 35 percent. ” The reality hit the county 8 months ago when the new employees could not be accepted into the payroll system.Some have simply absconded duty,” the source added.
“So when the Controller of Budget put her foot on the ground, the chicken had to roost. The impunity shown by the Wavinya government is criminal in nature. ” our source added.
Interestingly, the employees, all employed by the Wavinya administration, got jobs after bribing County Public Service Board officials. “Most were paying between Kes 100,000 to Kes 300,000 to secure the jobs,” the informant said.
Hundreds of employees say unpaid rent and mounting bills have pushed them into panic. “Shylocks are crying with one eye over unpaid loans and laughing with the other as new borrowers from county staff make a beeline to seek credit,” said one senior officer. Auctioneers and debt collectors are reportedly “marauding all over” Machakos town to collect unpaid debts, intensifying anxiety among public servants.
The delays come just weeks after Controller of Budget Dr. Margaret Nyakang’o froze approval of Machakos’ 2025/2026 budget over massive accountability failures linked to the ousted finance minister Onesmus Kuyu.
Sources inside County Treasury say this freeze has crippled liquidity and disrupted monthly payroll. “We can’t process salaries without Controller of Budget’s nod,” said one insider, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Senior county staff are particularly furious at Governor Wavinya herself for “looking the other way” as Muya, who is the Head of the Machakos Public Service for failing to manage staff anxiety amid the crippling salaries delay “They are rescheduling staff engagements to avoid triggering the ‘wantam’ chant — all indications show ‘Wavinya ameshindwa na kazi’,” said another source.
So far, both Governor Wavinya and County Secretary Muya Ndambuki have remained publicly silent about the delayed pay.
County staff unions are now threatening to march to the County Secretary’s office to eject him for the delay.
With mounting debts, predatory lending and auctioneers circling, Machakos county’s rank-and-file workers say they are at breaking point — and that unless the county leadership confronts the crisis head-on, “the government will grind to a halt.”
