Kitui County could be headed into a budgetary crisis as the assembly does not have an active budget committee to deliberate on the 2025/26 annual budget estimates, leading to its approval.
Kitui assembly speaker Kevin Katisya said the deliberation and passing of the budget estimates for 2025/2026 is in limbo due to a court case that has paralysed the committees operations.
He said some MCAs opposed to the constitution of a new budget and appropriation committee and other committees moved to court obtaining orders blocking their work thus stalling the budget making process.
He further said due to the MCAs move, the Kitui county assembly has its hands tied and cannot even deliberate and pass the 2024/2025 supplementary budget II that is before the assembly.
“We have a serious challenge at our assembly at the moment. The committee that interrogates the budget in not in place. MCAs exercised their constitutional rights and moved to court leading to the stopping of the operations of all committees,” the speaker said.
He said by April 30, Governor Julius Malombe presented the 2025/2026 budget estimates for considerations, but with the non-existence of any working budget committee, things were at standstill and nothing could be done on the budget.
Katisya was addressing journalists in Kitui town on Wednesday.
“The governor has presented us with the 2024/2025 supplementary budget II which needs deliberation and reallocation of funds for development. We have Sh332 million from donors that needs to be allocated but we are stuck,” he said.
He said should the assembly operations remain paralysed due to lack of functional sectoral committees, the people of Kitui will lose out on development as funds cannot be utilised without the approval of the supplementary budget by the assembly.
“According to the standing orders, committees have a three-year life. All committees existed in 2022, 2023 and up to 2024 when their time lapsed.
“When new committees were constituted this year, some MCAs had them rendered nugatory after they moved to court in opposition,” he said.
Katisya said even as the assembly awaits the court process to be concluded, he was considering the constitution of ad-hoc committees that would facilitate the deliberation of the budget and other important assembly business.
The speaker who is a lawyer, said Kitui residents should be assured of the fact that the assembly would follow court rulings in its undertaking as it endeavours to serve the people better.
Fielding questions from journalists, Katisya said he enjoyed a cordial working relationship with Malombe despite talk to the contrary.
"My interaction with the governor’s offices as Kitui Speaker is perfect. I write letters to him and he responds. When he writes to me, I also respond. Things are okay," he said.
The speaker, however, said he was fully aware that cartels were working overdrive to drive a wedge between him and Malombe.
"Cartels want to start a non-existent war between the county executive and the legislature. Both of us are not involved in any fight against each other," he said.
He further sought to assure that the county assembly would, without fear or favour, continue oversighting the implementation of county projects awarded to contractors.
"It is our constitutional duty to oversight the work of county executives," he said, adding that the roles should not be misconstrued as fighting them.
