• Samboja needs only 18,000 signatures to petition President to dissolve county
• Says he has collected more than 40,000 and Uhuru will decide
Last-minute efforts to find a solution to the budget impasse in Taita Taveta have failed.
Governor Granton Samboja and MPs from the county on Wednesday said the future of the devolved unit now lies with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Samboja explained that mediation efforts to bring the executive and assembly to an understanding have not yielded fruit, even with the intervention of various stakeholders.
“We now have more than 40,000 signatures and preparing to petition President Kenyatta to dissolve the county because dialogue has hit a dead end,” he said.
Taita Taveta has 180,000 registered voters and Samboja needs only 18,000 signatures to petition the President to dissolve the county.
“After presenting the petition, we will not comment. We will leave it to the President and he will use his wisdom to make a decision.”
The governor spoke after meeting former Prime Minister Raila Odinga at his office in Nairobi. Taita Taveta Senator Jones Mwaruma and legislators Jones Mlolwa (Voi), Andrew Mwadime (Mwatate) and Danson Mwashako (Wundanyi) accompanied him.
The lawmakers are supporting Samboja’s bid for the dissolution of the county arguing that MCAs are sabotaging its development agenda.
The feud is over Sh830 million MCAs allocated themselves through the Ward Development Fund. The county assembly passed a Sh5.3 billion budget, out of which MCAs allocated themselves Sh41.2 million each for projects in their wards.
On Wednesday, Samboja said he has never refused to dialogue with MCAs but maintained that he cannot go to a negotiation table when the other group is “insincere.”
“Let us just go to the ballot and the people will have the last say. I am ready to go home for the sake of the county if the people decide so.”
Mwaruma said the meeting with Raila was fruitful but an election is imminent in Taita Taveta.
“The former Prime Minister has assured us of his support in putting the county back on track,” the senator said.
It emerged that Raila will seek to meet MCAs to listen to their grievances. “MCAs have reached out to Raila and asked for a meeting with him,” a source at the meeting revealed.
“MCAs want to set up a working formula but the governor is no longer interested in having a dialogue with them."
Samboja disclosed that Raila would visit the county on August 12 to inspect and launch development projects in the area.
“He (Raila) will open a banana processing factory during his visit and we are hoping that he will use the occasion to talk to people and get an understanding of what they need.”
Edited by R.Wamochie