• Governor says MCAs want 15 per cent of budget for ward development against required three per cent.
• He reveals plan to impeach him if he does not allocate more funds.
Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja has launched a campaign to collect signatures from residents to have the county assembly dissolved.
While signing the petition at his Wundanyi office on Tuesday, Samboja accused MCAs of holding his administration hostage.
Samboja said the MCAs were hell-bent to loot money meant for development thus denying residents the fruits of devolution.
"The county assembly demands Sh40 million for each ward to the Ward Development Fund, which means the county government will be forced to disburse Sh800 million to each ward. This is 15 per cent of the total budget, against what the law provides at a maximum of three per cent," Samboja said.
He revealed that plans were under way to table a motion for his impeachment should he fail to allocate more funds to the county assembly.
The county boss further said, "For these and many more reasons, the county government will not be able to launch new or complete any developments already commenced. I once again call upon all of you to join hands with me and save ourselves from the assembly which has reached a resolve that our great county shall lag behind in development as we watch."
The campaign which targets 18,000 signatures shall be rolled out across the county.
Assembly speaker Meshack Maghanga said Samboja's decision was misinformed saying that it shall derail development projects in the county.
Maghanga said all executive members had been fully consulted during the budget-making process and therefore the county assembly should not be held accountable for the misfortunes.
"We are wondering what Samboja aims to achieve from these dirty games. His ministers were part of the budget-making team and, therefore, he cannot claim that we are holding him hostage," the speaker said.
Deputy speaker Chrispus Tondoo said MCAs shall hold a meeting with Samboja's administration to avert the looming dissolution of the county assembly.
He said the governor's move should be treated as a normal disagreement and that the budget shall be approved after consultation.
Assembly's Majority leader Jason Tuja revealed that MCAs were ready for fresh polls should they fail to reach an agreement.
"Everybody was elected and nobody should thrive through threats. If Samboja is unable to lead us, let President Uhuru Kenyatta dissolve this county for us to seek fresh re-election bid. Our politeness should not be misunderstood for cowardice," he said.
On Friday, Samboja declined to sign the county's Sh5. 4 billion budget for 2019-20 accusing the assembly of slashing money allocated for development.
Further, he said the county assembly demanded Sh670 million (11.16 per cent) of the budget instead of the prescribed maximum of 7 per cent each financial year.
Particularly, he said the assembly had slashed the budget set for payment of pending bills, County Public Service Board, purchase of a vehicle for Service Delivery Department and County Treasury Headquarters among others.
He said if the budget is not reviewed, the government might be forced to lay off casuals to sustain its wage bill.
Edited by R.Wamochie