High Court lifts injunction on Kiambu's mini budget

Two ward representatives in Kiambu County have lost in their bid to stop the execution of projects by the county government following the High Court decision to lift a stay order that had suspended the implementation of a supplementary budget.

Muguga MCA Kamau Thumbi and his Limuru East counterpart Macharia Ka Wambui had obtained a two-week injunction against the county government and the Controller of Budget to stop the utilisation of the budget that was approved by the county assembly last week.

Thumbi and Wambui, through lawyer Phillip Ndegwa, had argued that the county assembly had “illegally, unprocedurally, and without colour of right in law, proceeded to approve the County Government Supplementary Budget Estimates 11 for the 2024/2025 financial year.

After obtaining the court order, the MCAs addressed a press conference at a hotel along Kiambu Road on Tuesday, where they told reporters that they were fighting possible misappropriation of funds by the county executive.

But while the two, backed by Minority Leader Joe Kigara (Ngenda Ward), said they were challenging the budget over its approval process, they have been heavily criticized by their colleagues for “offering themselves to external forces keen to paralyse county operations to create a crisis for political expediency.”

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While challenging the order, the county told Lady Justice Abigail Mushila that the supplementary budget contained critical financial support, such as early childhood education centres whose contractual obligations had been entered into, running of hospitals, including purchase of drugs, and other development projects.

Through its lawyers, the county urgued that the petitioners were cheeky to file the court case five days before the close of the financial year so as to cripple its operations, since with a suspended supplementary budget, it would be impossible to run any projects, including payment of staff salaries and medical insurance cover.

“Once the financial year lapses on the coming Monday, June 30, 2025, the supplementary budget shall lapse owing to the stay orders, a situation that will create a huge constitutional crisis. Under Section 135 of the Public Finance Management Act, the county is allowed to spend money not appropriated, but as a mandatory requirement, the county must prepare and have approved a supplementary budget covering the said expenses, which were not appropriated in the main budget,” read the suit papers in part.

The supplementary budget must be passed before the close of the financial year.

County Assembly Majority Leader Godfrey Mucheke said while the two MCAs appeared to act as though they were pursuing a good course, it was laced with “an evil mission” crafted to bring everything to a halt, where the county would not be able to render services, even in hospitals, and pay salaries in order to create a crisis.

The crisis, Mucheke said, would have then been exploited by some leaders in the county critical of Governor Kimani Wamatangi, who he said are troubled by his popularity among the people, to fight him politically in the public arena.