Kitui Governor Julius Malombe, county assembly speaker Kevin Katisya and Deputy Governor Augustine Kanani, following Thursday's consultative meeting /Musembi Nzengu
A budget stalemate between the Kitui county executive and the county assembly that delayed approval of the 2026-27 budget beyond the statutory June 30 deadline has finally been resolved.
By the end of June, the county assembly had neither deliberated on nor approved the budget, with speaker Kevin Katisya maintaining the budget estimates submitted by the executive did not meet the legal threshold for consideration.
The law requires the budget-making process to be concluded before June 30, as the new financial year begins on July 1.
It is only after the county assembly debates, amends where necessary and approves the budget that it becomes the county's official spending plan for the financial year.
Although Katisya had twice returned the budget estimates to finance and treasury executive Peter Kilonzo for alignment with legal requirements, Kilonzo said the budget was compliant with the law and should be processed without alteration, leading to a stand-off that lasted for weeks.
However, on Thursday, days after the statutory deadline had lapsed, the county executive, led by Governor Julius Malombe, and the county assembly leadership, headed by Katisya, reached an agreement to end the impasse.
The breakthrough came as a result of a consultative meeting held in Mutomo town, Kitui South subcounty. The meeting brought together all 60 MCAs, county executive committee members and senior county government officials.
Following the meeting, Governor Malombe and Speaker Katisya issued a joint communiqué announcing the resolution of the budget dispute and committing both arms of the county government to work together in the interest of service delivery and development.
The two leaders agreed to open a new chapter of cooperation, with both the executive and the assembly pledging to strengthen structured consultations and collaboration towards the realisation of the Kitui Promise Agenda as outlined in Malombe's development manifesto.
Addressing the media after the meeting, the governor said the executive and the assembly were united by a common goal of serving the people of Kitui.
He said, with the budget dispute resolved, the county government would now focus on accelerating development projects and improving the livelihoods of residents.
"We are going to deepen the culture of structured consultations between the two arms of the county government. We are not in competition. Our shared aim is to deliver services to the people," Malombe said.
Katisya thanked Malombe for his leadership in resolving the disagreements surrounding the budget process.
He assured residents the county assembly would work expeditiously to consider, debate and approve the 2026-27 budget in the shortest time possible, paving the way for uninterrupted service delivery and the implementation of development programmes across the county.
