A host of Taita Taveta ODM legislators on Friday failed to meet Deputy President William Ruto, with whom they had scheduled a meeting with to discuss the impasse in the county.
Media reports indicated that the MCAs had booked an appointment with Dr Ruto, days after Governor Granton Samboja visited ODM leader Raila Odinga at Capitol Hill.
Instead, the MCAs were hosted by Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen, who has incidentally convened the meeting. They nonetheless discussed with him the row between assembly and execute.
"Today I received honorable members from Taita Taveta Assembly led by their Speaker Hon. Maghanga who called on me to discuss the current impasse prevailing in the county as a result of disagreement btwn the Assembly&Exe&the proposal by the Governor for suspension of county govt," Murkomen tweeted.
On Thursday, Governor Samboja met President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House where they discussed about the row. MCAs want the government to allocate Sh41 million to each ward.
The move has seen Governor Samboja threaten to have the county dissolved, and is yet to drop his decision. He wants the county to go for fresh polls.
"President Uhuru Kenyatta this afternoon met Governor @Sambojagranton of Taita Taveta County. They discussed issues touching on both national and Taita Taveta County development programmes including the Big 4 Agenda, Building Bridges Initiative and the fight against corruption," State House said.
Last week, Mr Odinga called for dialogue between the two sides. However, he faulted the MCAs, majority of whom belong to his party, arguing that they were frustrating development.
“The county legislature has been abusing their role of oversight and take over the process of budgeting, this happens every year. When budgets come, the MCAs push for Constituency Ward Development Fund which they want to control,” Raila said.
It's not clear why Ruto did not meet the lawmakers but instead delegated to Murkomen to listen to their pleas. Dr Ruto is keen to take control of Taita Taveta in 2022.