Machakos Majority Leader Accuses Nzioka Waita of Engineering Budget Committee Stalemate
By Anchor Writers
The political standoff over the passage of Machakos County’s 2026/27 Budget has taken a dramatic turn after Majority Leader Nicholas Nzioka publicly accused former State House Chief of Staf Nzioka Waita( Pictured below) of being the external force behind the Budget Committee deadlock.
Speaking outside the County Assembly, Nzioka said the committee had held more than 13 meetings in an attempt to resolve disagreements over the budget but had failed to reach a consensus.
The committee has 9 MCAs- four from Wiper and 5 from other parties, making it impossible for the majority party to pass the Budget without making compromises to appease the minority side of the House.
He said the impasse had now gone beyond disagreements over budget amendments and had become a politically driven contest.
“There is someone who wants to become the next Governor of Machakos, Nzioka Waita,” Nzioka told the Assembly.
He claimed that assertions had been made publicly that Waita was influencing the affairs of the County Assembly and challenged him to allow the budget process to proceed.
“I want to ask Nzioka Waita today: why this cruelty? The budget does not belong to Governor Wavinya Ndeti, neither does it belong to the County Assembly. It belongs to the people of Machakos,” Nzioka said.
According to the Majority Leader, continued delays in approving the budget would deny the county government the legal authority to spend money on critical services, including the purchase of medicines for public hospitals, payment of bursaries for students expected to report to school in September, water projects, dam construction and other essential services.
He argued that ordinary residents, rather than the Governor or Members of the County Assembly, would bear the consequences of the stalemate.
“If you are holding the budget hostage, you are not punishing Governor Wavinya. You are punishing the people of Machakos,” he said.
Nzioka went further and made a direct appeal to Waita.
“For the sake of the mothers in Masinga, Kangundo, Mlolongo and every resident who depends on county services, instruct your troops to release the budget,” he said.
The Budget Committee is understood to comprise nine members, with four elected on the Wiper Democratic Movement ticket and five drawn from other political parties.
The committee has reportedly been unable to agree on amendments proposed to the budget, resulting in the current deadlock.
The Majority Leader’s remarks are the clearest indication yet that the dispute over the county budget has evolved into a wider political contest ahead of the 2027 general election, with rival camps trading accusations over attempts to influence the Assembly’s legislative processes.
Nzioka Waita is now linked to growing political activities in Machakos County as he asserts his declared gubernatorial bid in 2027 under UDA party.
Speaking to The Anchor in response to the accusations, Waita dismissed the claims as a diversionary tactic, saying the real issue is not political interference but accountability in the use of public funds.
He questioned what the county government has done with the over Ksh58 billion disbursed to the administration over the past four years, arguing that residents are still struggling with failing hospitals, impassable roads, and dilapidated market centres.
He said it was unfortunate that after years in office, the Governor is now seeking scapegoats instead of addressing service delivery failures, adding that leadership should be measured by results, not blame games.
Waita urged the county leadership to focus on fixing the remaining gaps in service delivery and make the most of the time left in office to serve the people of Machakos.
Here is the full text of Mr Waita’s response: “As usual Governor Wavinya is looking for someone to blame for her failures , she has been in office for 4 years and the county assembly and national government have released to her administration over Sh 58B , what have they done with it ?”
He went on “Is it today that they have realised that the hospitals are not working, the roads are impassable and the market centres are dilapidated? Instead of looking for scapegoats , let her own her failures and make the most of the remaining time in office by serving the residents of Machakos County “, Waita concluded.
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