Kitui County is staring at a full-blown governance crisis following a protracted power struggle between two rival factions within the County Assembly—one allied to Speaker Kevin Kinengo Katisya and the other with the backing of Governor Julius Malombe’s administration. The standoff has stalled crucial legislative functions, including the passage of the 2024/2025 supplementary budget and the 2025/2026 budget estimates, threatening to bring service delivery to a grinding halt.
Investigations by Channel 15 News reveal that the Assembly is currently split down the middle, with both camps claiming to represent the legitimate Majority Leadership. The Malombe-aligned faction accuses Speaker Kinengo of engineering the wrangles to consolidate control over the House at the expense of development priorities.
A senior official in Governor Malombe’s administration who spoke to Channel 15 on condition of anonymity alleged, “The Speaker is standing in the way of budgetary processes by refusing to recognize legitimate committees. We presented the supplementary budget on April 30, and to date, no deliberations have taken place. We have projects and county operations stuck because the Assembly has refused to act.”
But an MCA allied to Speaker Kinengo came to his defense, insisting that the impasse stems from an alleged attempt by the executive to compromise the independence of the Assembly. “Let’s be honest—the executive wants to install its own cronies as leaders in the House to bulldoze the budget process. The Speaker is just standing for the institution’s integrity. Oversight must remain independent,” the MCA told Channel 15.
The stalemate has effectively paralysed sectoral committees, which are constitutionally mandated to scrutinize and approve budget estimates before the entire Assembly can debate them. Without functional committees, the Assembly cannot legally process or pass any budget documents—leaving crucial county operations, including health services, infrastructure, and education projects, in limbo.
MCAs allied to both camps admit the budget impasse is spiraling out of control. “This is a serious crisis. We can’t deliberate on the supplementary estimates because the Assembly has no properly constituted committees. The Speaker and the Executive must both take responsibility,” said an MCA from the neutral wing of the Assembly.
Sources indicate that one faction, composed of more than a dozen MCAs, has moved to court to challenge recent decisions by the Speaker, including the reconstitution of House committees. Meanwhile, the Speaker’s faction maintains the Executive has no business interfering in legislative leadership matters.
Despite calls for unity, Channel 15 News has established that both sides are deeply entrenched, with meetings held separately and a breakdown in communication evident. “Cartels and egos have taken over. The Assembly is no longer about the people; it’s about power,” lamented a longtime Assembly insider.
The bigger casualty, however, remains the people of Kitui County. “The fighting may be political, but its impact is personal. We have pending bills, stalled bursary allocations, and development funds sitting idle,” said a source at the County Treasury.
With no end in sight, residents are now calling for intervention to restore order. Civil society groups have warned that if the budget stalemate is not resolved urgently, the County risks a total shutdown of its key services.
