[File image of the members of the Machakos County Assembly during a debate in Machakos. Photo|Daily Nation]
The Machakos County's Sh2.4 billion supplementary budget passed by MCAs three weeks ago has been thrown into a limbo after the assembly failed to veto Governor Alfred Mutua's memorandum.
In an acrimonious debate which lasted the entire Monday afternoon, the MCAs failed to raise the required threshold vote of two thirds to effectively overrule Dr. Mutua’s rejection of some of the proposals captured in the supplementary budget.
The special sitting, convened by Speaker, Florence Mwangangi was intended to debate on a memorandum drawn by Mutua, explaining why he couldn’t accent to the supplementary budget as passed by MCAs.
Invoking Section 24 (2) (b) of the County Governments Act (2012), Dr. Mutua had opined that the Machakos County Supplementary Appropriation Bill (2018) as passed by the assembly contravened the Public Finance Management Regulations (2015).
“The county assembly has the sacred role of legislation, oversight, and representation. Respectfully, it is my considered view that by listing specific projects within a Bill, the assembly will be intruding into the arena of implementation,” Dr. Mutua said.
But the MCAs appeared to be divided along party loyalties-with those allied to Wiper party supporting to veto the memorandum while Maendeleo Chap Chap loyalists fiercely opposed the motion.
The debate culminated in a vote where Wiper side garnered 34 votes against opposition’s 22. The assembly's majority leader, Francis Ngunga abstained from the vote.
Frustrated by the development, Speaker Mwangangi declared the County Supplementary budget was now ‘in a limbo’ and set out June 5th as the date for further deliberations after the assembly reconvenes from recess.
This means the fate of the Sh2.4 billion supplementary budget proposals now hangs in the balance as the executive is unable to carry-out any proposed implementation.