Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana. Photo/ COURTESY
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 25 – Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana now says he will not resign because differences with the County Assembly have been ironed out.
Speaking following a special session of the Council of Governors in Nairobi, Kivutha pointed out that there is no more disagreement with the County Assembly because the contentious budget has now been cut down from Sh1 billion to Sh500 million.
He had earlier said that he had failed to convince the assembly members to agree to a compromise and that his negotiations had reached a dead end.
“A previous budget which the county assembly had said should have been Sh1 billion has come down now to Sh577 million. Today within the office of the Controller of Budget, we have now finally agreed on a realistic budget of the Sh577 million,” he stated.
He pointed out that focus should now be on development projects within the county.
“Although in Makueni we had these arguments and acrimony on the budget issue, strictly speaking, all these counties now should also focus on mobilising funds from funding partners and investments,” he said.
Kibwana had announced his intention to resign following the financial row with Members of the County Assembly (MCAs).
The former presidential adviser was thereafter hospitalised due to high blood pressure and stress.
In its original Sh5 billion budget, Kibwana’s government had allocated the assembly Sh89 million but the MCAs demanded Sh1 billion instead.
Kibwana had argued that assembly salaries and allowances amount to Sh127 million so that the only extra needed was for their “extra operations and that of their staff.”
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