Machakos County will only have access to half of its proposed Sh17.8 billion budget for the 2026/2027 financial year after MCAs approved temporary funding as a wider disagreement over the county’s spending plan remains unresolved.
The decision reached by the County Assembly on Wednesday, August 12, allows the county government to continue paying salaries and financing essential services while the two arms of the county government work through disagreements surrounding the full budget.
At the centre of the dispute are pending bills, development spending and changes made to the proposed allocations. MCAs have raised concern over the amount owed to suppliers and contractors, saying the debt has placed many businesses and families under financial pressure.
The Assembly has put the county’s pending bills at close to Sh7 billion and wants the issue addressed in the 2026/2027 financial year budget.
“Madam Speaker, our pending bills stand at almost sh7 billion. That means we have a lot of people, a lot of families that are in agony or are suffering because somebody made a deliberate choice not to honour the contractual obligation that was provided,” an MCA said.
Lawmakers have also questioned whether funds set aside for development in earlier budgets have resulted in projects being implemented as planned.
The Budget Committee wants the contested allocations reviewed and included in the final budget, arguing that the county should focus its resources on priority projects and services.
The disagreement has put Governor Wavinya Ndeti’s administration at odds with the County Assembly, with both sides offering different accounts of the county’s financial obligations.
Wavinya has challenged the Assembly’s estimate of nearly Sh7 billion in pending bills. She said the total amount of pending bills and stock accounts payable stood at Sh4.6 billion as of June 30, 2026.
“I want to make it very clear. The total amount of pending bills and stock accounts payable as at June 30, 2026, was Ksh4.6 billion,” Wavinya said.
The governor said the figure included Sh1.6 billion in unpaid staff salaries covering April, May and June 2026.
Wavinya has also accused members of the Budget and House Business committees of frustrating her administration’s plans, particularly after the Assembly failed to approve the supplementary budget.
She further claimed that some MCAs were acting under the influence of outside political interests, adding to the tension between the executive and the legislature.
For now, the partial approval gives the county government access to funds needed to keep its operations running, but it does not resolve the dispute over the remaining half of the proposed budget.
The full Sh17.8 billion budget will therefore remain a point of contention as MCAs push for changes to allocations, action on pending bills and greater attention to development priorities.