By Martin Masai
Fresh Trouble for Governor as Illegal Municipal Board Members Gazettement Sparks Graft Claims
Governor Wavinya Ndeti’s administration is facing a fresh political and legal storm following the gazettement of three Machakos and Mavoko Municipal Board members without approval by the County Assembly.
This comes amid explosive allegations of entrenched bribery and deep mistrust between the Executive and Members of the County Assembly (MCAs).
The controversy erupted after Gazette Notice No. 6571 dated May 8, 2026 formally appointed Dr. Mary Mutete Mwanzia to the Machakos Municipal Board and Elizabeth Mbithie Kimanthi together with Nyambane Japheth Ondieki to the Mavoko Municipal Board.
However, it has emerged that although the nominees had undergone vetting before the Assembly Committee on Urban Planning on April 23, 2026, the County Assembly had not formally approved their appointments before the gazettement was done.
The committee, chaired during the session by Kangundo North MCA Mathew Ndunda, had only indicated that it would prepare and table a report before the House for debate and approval.
Sources within the Assembly now claim that the report never successfully passed through the House approval process, meaning the nominees had not legally secured Assembly clearance at the time Governor Wavinya proceeded with the gazettement.
The move has now triggered accusations that the Governor deliberately bypassed statutory procedures and legislative oversight in order to operationalize the municipal boards.
Sources familiar with the matter allege that the urgency was driven by efforts to unlock nearly Kes. 600 million tied to the Kenya Urban Support Programme (KUSP/KUCP Program 3), whose requirements include fully constituted municipal boards. It has taken Wavinya over three years since becoming Governor to activate the boards of Machakos,Mavoko and Tala-Kangundo municipalities.
But in a new twist, a source close to the Governor claimed the Executive opted to bypass the Assembly after growing frustration over alleged demands for bribes by some MCAs before county business could proceed.
According to the source, the Governor’s allies and critics privately complain that major Assembly processes have increasingly become transactional.“It has reached a point where at least Kes. 100,000 per MCA is allegedly expected whenever the Executive wants critical business passed in the Assembly,” claimed the source. The Anchor is alive to the rising tension between both arms of government.
By coincidence, this row erupted as Governor Wavinya and Speaker Anne Kiusya were dancing together in a business-as-usual pose in Mombasa during a training session for Assembly staff.
The allegations, however, have attracted fierce criticism from governance and integrity activists who argue that corruption claims cannot justify bypassing the law.
Leading Machakos integrity champion Fred Lau accused the administration of attempting to use alleged Assembly corruption as a defence for violating statutory procedures.“The claim may however be misplaced since bribery has been established as a key tool of the Wavinya administration to move her agenda forward,” said Lau.“It is what has informed key decisions even before she fell out with Speaker Anne Kiusya. So graft, much as it exists in this administration, cannot be cited as an excuse for bypassing legal requirements,” he added.The unfolding confrontation has now escalated into a broader debate about governance, corruption, and abuse of procedure within Machakos County.
Legal experts argue that if the appointments are found to have been made without mandatory Assembly approval, the gazettement could be challenged and nullified in court.
Lawyer Nzau Musau capped it thus: “There is absolutely no legal basis for the Governor to bypass the Assembly in the manner she did, bribery demands notwithstanding. If anything, she should report the demands to police for investigations and arrest of the culprits.”
The County Assembly Speaker is understood to have signalled possible legal action to seek interpretation on the legality of the appointments.
The latest fallout further exposes the widening cracks between Governor Wavinya’s administration and the Assembly leadership following months of political tension, mistrust, and accusations of interference in Assembly affairs.
As the dispute intensifies, the focus now shifts to whether the courts will be called upon to determine whether the Executive acted unlawfully by gazetting nominees who had not been approved by the County Assembly.
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