• Kakamega High Court judge William Musyoka said the request made by Governor Wilber Ottichilo failed to meet the required threshold.
• Justice Musyoka scheduled the case for mentioning on September 20.
The Vihiga administration's budget impasse will persist after a court declined to lift orders barring the implementation of the 2021-2022 fiscal proposals.
Kakamega High Court judge William Musyoka said the request made by Governor Wilber Ottichilo failed to meet the required threshold.
Justice Musyoka scheduled the case for mentioning on September 20.
"In general, there is no good point in the objections set out in the notice 16 of preliminary objection, dated July 5, 2021, and I hereby prohibit the said objections and dismiss them. There shall be no order as to costs," read part of the ruling.
The administration had sought the orders following a petition filed by former county secretary Francis Ominde and activist James Simekha on the ground due process was not adhered to in budget-making.
The court orders stopping the county from implementing the 2021/2022 budget approved by the county assembly were issued on July 5.
Governor Ottichilo had urged the High Court to dismiss the petition, saying it was not for the public interest. He also said the High Court lacked jurisdiction to handle issues in the petition.
The governor questioned the validity of the affidavit filed by Francis Ominde, terming his evidence as hopelessly and permanently imperfect.
The governor further said the petition and notice of motion were founded on inadmissible evidence and that second petitioner Simekha was an outsider to the petition.
Justice Musyoka said issues raised by Governor Ottichilo can only be determined during the hearing process.
"Whether the contents are adequate for a constitutional remedy is not a matter that can be dealt with summarily; parties have to be heard," ruled the judge.
"These are contested facts. The invitation to have a look at these documents, to assess their value one way or the other, takes the matter out of the purview of a preliminary objection."
Ominde and Shimekha in their petition said their concern was how the county government of Vihiga had projected to implement the budget.
They said that the plan was unlawful because it did not get the approval of the county executive committee as required by the law.
Finance executive Alfred Indeche, Governor Ottichilo, Speaker Hasna Mudeizi and assembly clerk Ambaka Kilinga are the petitioners.
The Controller of Budget, Vihiga Deputy Governor Patrick Saisi and the county executive committee are interested parties.
On July 21, the county government got a reprieve after the Kakamega High Court allowed the Controller of Budget to release 30 per cent equal to the previous financial year’s budget.