Governor Blows Hot and Cold Over Elephant in the Room: The Mutanu Question
By Anchor Writer
The war between Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti (Pictured below) and the County Assembly has escalated, with the Governor accusing Members of sabotaging the county through “petty and devilish games”.
But beneath the bitter exchange over the approval of only 50 per cent of the proposed 2026/2027 budget lies a more consequential question which the Governor’s latest official statement conspicuously leaves unanswered: what is the status of Catherine Mutanu Raphael?
The question has become the elephant in the room.
In a strongly worded statement after the Assembly approved half of the budget, Wavinya defended her administration and accused the House of misinformation, selfish interests and holding Machakos hostage.
She said the Assembly delayed the process before finally approving 50 per cent of the budget on Tuesday.
Her language turned combative.
“Their petty and devilish games will not succeed,” she said, warning Members that “the ballot box will be your waterloo”.
She accused the Assembly of allegedly punishing residents and passing the budget mainly to pay their own salaries and allowances.
“The budget you passed today was not done for the People of Machakos,” she said. “You did it so that you can get your own salaries and allowances paid.”
Wavinya also defended her budget process, saying the Executive complied with the law while the Assembly failed to pass the Appropriation Act by June 30.
She disputed figures on pending bills, roads and water funding.
She said pending bills stood at KSh4.635 billion, not KSh7.5 billion, and that KSh858 million had been set aside for them. She added that roads received KSh417 million, water KSh542 million, and KSh452 million went to the Climate Change Fund.
Yet for all its force, the statement is notable for what it omits.
There is no mention of Mutanu.
This is significant because the fate of the former Finance CECM has lately become central to the Executive–Assembly standoff.
The Assembly has said it does not recognise Mutanu as Finance CECM, creating a constitutional and administrative dispute.
On one side is the Assembly rejecting her legitimacy. On the other is the Executive, whose handling of her position is under scrutiny.
Wavinya has previously suggested Mutanu’s return is due to court orders, not her own decision, while also saying she will not abandon her.
That creates a contradiction: if Mutanu is a product of the courts, why defend her? And if she is supported, what does that mean for the Assembly’s position?
The Governor’s statement does not address this.
Instead, Mutanu is entirely absent from a document that otherwise responds to nearly every other accusation- yet she is the one to sign off the over Sh 7b approved Budget.
That silence may be more telling than the attack on the Assembly.
On the surface, the dispute is about budget numbers. But it is increasingly about authority, control of key offices, and institutional legitimacy.
Wavinya says the impasse has delayed salaries, services and development projects, and could affect donor-funded programmes.
The Assembly has now passed only half the budget, offering temporary relief but not resolution.
The deeper issue is a breakdown of trust between the two arms of government.
Wavinya accuses MCAs of being influenced by “puppet masters”. The Assembly says it is exercising oversight and does not recognise Mutanu.
In the middle stands Mutanu — unnamed in the Governor’s statement but central to the dispute.
Wavinya ends her statement promising to ensure services continue and that she will not be distracted.
But the core question remains unresolved: who has authority over the county’s executive structure and finances?
Until that is settled, the conflict is unlikely to end and this may eventually culminate in having no further approval of the remaining half as the country enters an election year.
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