•There was acrimonious debate over the relocation move leading to the speaker George Ndotto throwing an MCA out of the house during the Wednesday night sitting.
•The MCAs approved an amendment to the Supplementary bill brought by MCA Nicholas Mwalali to set aside Sh11 million for renovation of the chamber.
Mwingi town will host the third Kitui county assembly that will be convened after the August 9 general election.
Kitui MCAs on Wednesday night passed a Sh11.2 million budget for transfer of operations and the renovation of the chamber that was previously used by the defunct Mwingi County Council.
The temporary move to relocate the Kitui county assembly business to Mwingi town, more than 90 kilometers away, would create room for the construction of the speaker’s residence and MCAs offices in assembly precincts in Kitui town at a cost of Sh70 million.
The move to endorse the relocation of assembly business did not,however, come easy as it was introduced as an amendment to the Kitui county 2021/2022 Sh12.40 billion supplementary budget estimates bill by the Mbitini MCA, Nicholas Mwalali, kicking off heated debate.
Mwalali’s amendment that sought to provide for Sh11 million to facilitate the relocation, mobilization of staff and rehabilitation of the chambers at the assembly’s new but temporary home in Mwingi rubbed some MCAs the wrong way leading to bitter exchanges.
The speaker,George Ndotto, had to give Mumoni MCA Johnson Kanandu, who was among those opposed to relocation of Assembly business to Mwingi , his marching orders as the debate heightened. However after tempers cooled down, Mwalali’s amendment sailed through.
Despite the acrimony, Ndotto said moving assembly business to Mwingi was for posterity. He noted that the current MCAs will not necessarily be affected by the relocation but their successors after the August polls will.
He said MCAs have over the years complained about lack of offices and adequate packing for their vehicles but that will be sorted during the three or more years that the Assembly business will be carried out in Mwingi and construction gets underway in Kitui.
The Kitui supplementary budget bill that was presented by the Budget and Appropriation committee chairman Boniface Kasina was also passed by the assembly. It contained an allocation of up to Sh433 million to plug budget deficits in a number of departments.
Kilaa said that Sh40 million has been reallocated for acquisition of drugs and non-pharmaceuticals, Sh60 million for hospital and medical facilities operations and management and Sh67 million for contracts that were previously being investigated by EACC but were cleared.
(Edited by Francis Wadegu)