By Anchor Writers
The Machakos County Assembly today approved half of the county’s proposed Sh17.797 billion budget for the 2026/2027 financial year.
Yet, the approval provides a temporary financial lifeline to the county government but leaves unresolved a potentially explosive question over who is legally in charge of the county’s finances.
Effectively, the Assembly on authorised the withdrawal of approximately Sh8.899 billion from the County Revenue Fund to finance essential operations of both the County Executive and the Assembly pending approval of the full Appropriation Act.
The Motion was moved by Mua Ward MCA Francis Ngunga( Pictured Below) and approved during a sitting presided over by Speaker Anne Kiusya.
The majority side, led by Majority Leader Nicholas Nzioka did little to push back Ngunga’s move.
But behind the apparently routine budget decision lies an unresolved institutional standoff between the Assembly and Governor Wavinya Ndeti over Catherine Mutanu Raphael, whose position has become one of the most contentious issues in the county’s financial administration.
The Assembly has taken the position that it no longer recognises Mutanu as the County Executive Committee Member in charge of Finance, Economic Planning, Revenue Management and ICT.
This creates an extraordinary situation in which the Assembly is approving access to billions of shillings from the County Revenue Fund while disputing the legitimacy of the person at the centre of the county’s financial management.
Mutanu was dismissed from the County Executive by Governor Ndeti on July 6, following a prolonged dispute that had spilled into the County Assembly.
The Assembly subsequently adopted a report concerning the former Finance CECM. The House’s position has since hardened, with the Speaker declaring that Mutanu was no longer recognised by the Assembly as a member of the County Executive.
The dispute has therefore moved beyond the question of Mutanu’s individual position and into the wider question of the administration of public finances in Machakos.
It is this dilemma that now hangs over the county’s budget process.
The county government needs an operational budget to pay salaries, maintain essential services, meet contractual obligations and keep its departments functioning.
Yet the political and institutional disagreement surrounding the Finance docket threatens to complicate the implementation of that budget.
The Assembly’s decision to release 50 per cent of the proposed budget is consequently an attempt to keep government functioning while the wider dispute remains unresolved.
The Sh8.899 billion authorised represents only half of the proposed annual budget. The remaining half cannot be accessed until the full Appropriation Act is approved.
The decision comes at a time when Machakos is already under considerable financial pressure.
The county has faced persistent questions over revenue collection, expenditure management, outstanding obligations and its ability to meet statutory commitments.
County employees have previously raised concerns over delayed remittance of statutory deductions and loan repayments.
The delays have added to anxiety among staff already dealing with uncertainty over the county’s financial position.
The county has also struggled to meet its Own Source Revenue targets.
The County Executive revised its Own Source Revenue target to about Sh5 billion amid questions over the county’s capacity to generate sufficient local revenue which many believe is stolen.
This is significant because locally generated revenue is expected to supplement the equitable share from the national government and help finance devolved services.
Machakos has also faced questions over its wage bill and the composition of its development expenditure.
Earlier scrutiny of the county’s budget by the Controller of Budget raised concerns about the wage bill and the credibility of some budget allocations.
The county has additionally experienced difficulties in financing basic services such as garbage collection, which has been affected by reductions in fuel allocations. The county has also faced substantial electricity liabilities with some offices running on power generators.
Its health facilities have also been operating within the difficult environment created by changes in national health financing and delayed payments.
Machakos Level Five Hospital, one of the county’s most important health institutions, has been at the centre of concerns over hospital financing, even as county hospitals have generated substantial Own Source Revenue.
The county has also been embroiled in controversy over its supplementary budget, with questions raised over revisions running into billions of shillings.
These pressures make the current budget decision particularly important.
The Assembly is not merely providing the Executive with money to operate. It is exercising one of its most important constitutional responsibilities—controlling public expenditure through appropriation and oversight.
But the Mutanu dispute puts that responsibility in an unusual context.
If the Assembly says it does not recognise the person responsible for the Finance docket, questions inevitably arise over who is expected to implement the financial decisions being approved by the House.
Governor Ndeti, on the other hand, remains the head of the County Executive and is responsible for the appointment and dismissal of members of the County Executive Committee in accordance with the law.
Mutanu’s removal and the Assembly’s subsequent position have therefore created a constitutional and administrative fault line that could have consequences well beyond the current budget.
The dispute also risks distracting the county government from the more pressing question of restoring financial stability.
For residents, the issue is ultimately not about the personalities involved.
It is about whether hospitals will function, whether garbage will be collected, whether county employees will receive their dues, whether contractors will be paid and whether development projects will continue.
The Assembly has now bought the county government some breathing space by approving Sh8.899 billion.
But it has not resolved the deeper financial and institutional problems.
The remaining half of the Sh17.797 billion budget will require further action by the Assembly.
And before the full budget can effectively take shape, Machakos may have to confront the unresolved Mutanu question—a dispute that has turned what should ordinarily be a technical budget process into a major test of the relationship between the Governor and the County Assembly.
While the county has money to operate for now, what remains uncertain is whether the two arms of the county government can agree on who has the authority to manage it.
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