By Steff Ndei
Machakos gubernatorial aspirant Mr. Nzioka Waita (Pictured below) has accused Governor Wavinya Ndeti of undermining constitutional order following Monday’s confrontation at the County Assembly, arguing that while the governor was within her rights to reject the county budget, she had no authority to interfere with the legislature.
In a statement issued today, Waita said the events at the Machakos County Assembly were part of what he described as a growing pattern of violence and intimidation by the governor, warning that the political turmoil in the county could have wider implications for national politics.
“I keep telling Kenyans to watch the madness that is the Machakos County Government and the wider implications on our national politics,” Waita said.
The intervention follows a confrontation at the Assembly on Monday, August 31, when Ndeti stormed the Assembly precincts to deliver a memorandum outlining her objections to the County Appropriation Bill, 2026, which she had declined to assent to.
Waita alleged that the governor entered the precincts accompanied by people who were not Assembly officers and forced her way into the Assembly, during which county assembly staff, including the Sergeant-at-Arms, were assaulted.
The governor has been at loggerheads with the Assembly over changes made to the county’s proposed Sh17.8 billion budget.
Ndeti has accused MCAs of making substantial alterations to the spending plan approved by the executive, including reallocations she says would affect development programmes and essential services.
Waita, however, said the merits of the governor’s objections to the budget were separate from the manner in which the dispute was handled.
He acknowledged that the County Governments Act gives governors the power to decline assent to legislation passed by a county assembly and return it with a memorandum outlining their reasons.
But, he argued, the law also provides the process through which the disagreement must subsequently be resolved.“The Governor’s power to return a Bill is lawful. Violence is not,” Waita said.
Under Section 24 of the County Governments Act, a governor who declines to assent to a Bill may refer it back to the county assembly within 14 days, accompanied by a memorandum setting out the reasons for the referral.
The Assembly may then amend the Bill to address the governor’s concerns or pass it again using the majority prescribed by law.
“Disagreement over appropriations is therefore contemplated, regulated, and capable of lawful resolution,” Waita said. “Nothing in section 24 authorises the Executive to coerce the Legislature.”
Separation of powers
Waita also framed the confrontation as a test of the separation of powers established under Kenya’s devolved system of government.He cited Articles 175 and 176 of the Constitution, which establish democratic principles and the separation of powers within county governments and constitute county governments as two distinct organs — the county executive and county assembly.
Article 185 vests legislative authority at county level in the Assembly and gives it oversight powers over the county executive.
Waita argued that the provisions were intended to prevent either arm of county government from subordinating the other.
“A Governor who treats the Assembly’s offices as an extension of the Governor’s office offends that holding,” he said, citing previous court decisions affirming the institutional independence of county assemblies.
He further argued that the privileges and immunities granted to county assemblies and their officers protect the integrity of legislative proceedings and the ability of Assembly officials to perform their functions without interference.
“To storm those precincts with hired goons, and to lay hands on Assembly officers, is not ‘service of a memorandum’,” Waita said.
2027 contest
Waita’s intervention also comes against the backdrop of an increasingly competitive political environment in Machakos ahead of the 2027 General Election.
The former State House Chief of Staff is positioning himself for another attempt at the Machakos governorship under his Masaku Mbee 2027 campaign.
He unsuccessfully contested the seat in 2022, when Ndeti won the governorship on a Wiper Democratic Movement ticket.
His latest statement was issued by his campaign secretariat and places the confrontation within a broader argument about the exercise of political power in the county.
“A Governor is the chief executive of the county. She is not above the law that constitutes her office,” Waita said.
“When the holder of that office resorts to force against another organ of the same county government, the injury is not merely to the individuals who were assaulted. It is to the idea that power in Kenya is exercised under law.”
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