By Anchor Writers
The civil society organisations also cited the Constitution, the County Governments Act and the Public Finance Management Act, arguing that the County Assembly has a constitutional duty to consider and approve the budget estimates, with or without amendments, before the end of June each year.
The statement further questioned why the Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee had delayed finalising its report despite public participation having been conducted in mid-June.
Machakos County civil society organisations today piled pressure on the County Assembly and the County Executive to end the budget stalemate that has delayed the approval of the 2026/2027 financial estimates, warning that they will organise public demonstrations if the impasse is not resolved within 24 hours.
In a statement read out by Leading Human Rights Campigner Mr Fred Lau, the Machakos County Civil Society Network (MCCN), an umbrella body bringing together more than 80 Public Benefit Organisations, Community-Based Organisations and Faith-Based Organisations, said residents were paying the price for what it described as a power struggle between the Executive and the Assembly.
The network said the budget estimates remained in limbo as of July 29, arguing that the prolonged deadlock was already disrupting service delivery across the county.
“The current state of affairs has been occasioned by the tussle between the County Executive and the County Assembly at the expense of service delivery to the citizens of Machakos,” the statement reads.
MCCN reminded both arms of county government that sovereign power belongs to the people under Article 1 of the Constitution and urged elected leaders to put public interest ahead of political differences.
It also criticised repeated postponement of Assembly sittings, including specially gazetted sessions, saying residents had not been given satisfactory explanations.
According to MCCN, the delay threatens timely payment of salaries for county workers and remittance of statutory deductions.
It warned that development projects funded jointly with development partners, including health, agriculture, water and urban planning programmes, could also be disrupted because the county government would be unable to meet its financial obligations.
The network further cautioned that contractors and suppliers with pending bills may seek legal action if payments continue to be delayed, exposing taxpayers to additional legal costs.
MCCN said the continued wrangles were ultimately hurting ordinary residents by undermining service delivery.
The civil society groups have now demanded that the Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee expedite the passage of the 2026/2027 budget estimates within 24 hours, whether with amendments or without.
They warned that failure to do so would trigger public demonstrations and possible court action under Article 22 of the Constitution.
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