Kidero to run city with no budget after boycott by MCAs
City Hall will not access funds for the financial year beginning July 1, 2017 after MCAs snubbed the assembly where they were expected to pass a vote on account motion.
The standoff follows controversy over a total sh5.1 billion set aside in the last three budgets for Ward Development Fund but which has never been released.
The deadline for passing the sh35.89 billion budget estimates for the next financial year was June 30.
LACK OF QUORUM
Members boycotted the day’s sitting causing the house to be adjourned for lack of quorum.
If the assembly had passed the vote on account, the Governor Evans Kidero would have automatically been able to access half of the budget on recurrent expenditure pending a resolution of the standoff.
In Thursday’s sitting, the Budget and Appropriation Committee failed to table the budget estimates to the assembly for approval and refused to let the county executive in charge of finance Gregory Mwakanongo to read the estimates as expected.
Majority chief whip David Mberia disclosed to Nairobi News that the leadership at the county assembly had earlier in the day met Governor Kidero for crisis talks to unlock the standoff.
They agreed on passing the vote on account on the promise that they would change the budget to their preference afterwards.
BEGGED MCAs
“The tough Kidero you see, I hear he begged the MCAs who attended the negotiation to pass the vote on account. Let’s see how it goes,” Mr Mberia told Nairobi News before the sitting.
And peaking on a phone interview, the minority leader Abdi Guyo said Governor Kidero should give an account of how he spent sh100 billion that the county assembly had approved in previous budgets since 2013 if he wants to get more money.
“Let the governor explain projects in the county that he has implemented after we have already passed Sh 100 billion so far,”said Guyo.
The speaker Alex Ole Magelo said that he had heard complaints from MCAs who are not satisfied with the way Governor Kidero had spent money from previous budgets hence the standoff.
