Outcry as Kitui speaker Kinengo drives County to a hold

Kitui County Assembly speaker, Katisya Kinengo, has once again single handedly scrutinised and rejected the supplementary budget estimate prepared by the executive against the law.

His unilateral decision has hitherto thrown the county and everybody within the County Assembly and the executive off balance.  

The legal procedure of the budget estimates is that after its preparation by the executive led by Governor Julius Malombe and the finance and planning chief executive Makau Kimwele, is taken before the nine-member County Assembly Finance committee through the speaker for reading, scrutiny and subsequent passage of the whole budget without amendments or any recommendations to the amendments as they return it to the executive for final endorsement.

This constitutional and legal requirement did not happen in respect of this year’s Kitui county supplementary budget estimates. When the supplementary estimates landed at the County speakers’ desk, he single-handedly without involvement of the nine finance committee members rejected it in toto without any recommendations note.

He just trashed the whole supplementary document as if he was insinuating that Kitui County must grind to a halt financially as he cheers the tribulations.  

It is now the current stand-off at the Kitui County government corridors of power and the speaker Kevin Katisya Kinengo as a person. This is because Kinengo seating either in a bar or in his house rejected the supplementary budget estimate without following constitutional requirement. He therefore did it as Kevin Katisya Kinengo not as speaker of Kitui County Assembly. He refused to follow the law and procedure governing the making of the budget in Kenya.

Kitui County Chief executive Julius Makau Malombe said that speaker Kinengo acted outside the law in single handedly rejecting the supplementary budget estimate prepared by the executive.  Governor Malombe said that everybody understands the legal procedure of budgets making. He said that it was surprising that the speaker Kinengo has chosen to be mischievous on a grave issue like budget making.

Governor Malombe has asked the speaker to mantelpiece his political mischief on an important matter like the budget making and hand the people of Kitui their right to access development through the supplementary budget.

He asked the speaker to follow the procedure and hand over the nine-member budget finance committee the supplementary budget estimates to deliberate on it because it is their constitutional right to do so without undue cohesion or insertions of his biased political liking.

Several County Assembly members have expressed their misgivings on the speakers handling of sensitive matters like the budget. T

hey warned speaker of playing his political mischief on every issue especially on the budget making deliberations. 

“We don’t want to know whether or not Kinengo is a two –  term or wantam adherent politician, what we demand from him is to follow the law. His political arm-twisting will miserably fail because we will not allow him to hold to ransom great the people of Kitui County. The budget cannot be stopped by one person even if he is issuing orders from state house. said Syungo, a nominated MCA.

 The speaker is, however, doing what he loves best –  controversy. He likes being stalked by controversy in every corner he takes, a source told Weekly Citizen.

No sooner was Kinengo elected by the overwhelming majority than he started stirring controversy that always follows him. He did it against the wishes of the people of Kitui County and the Front’s leader Kalonzo Musyoka, as he did it against the witches of Kitui County executive and the entire County Assembly.

Immediately, the county assembly mooted a scheme to kick him out through impeachment process. The impeachment was later scuttled by the former Governor Charity Ngilu and Mwingi Central MP Gideon Mulyungi who bankrolled the MCAs to drop the snipe chilling impeachment process led by Ngomeni MCA, Nzungi Ngwele. 

The Ngomeni MCA Nzungi lists disrespectful episodes they say speaker Kinengo has been associated with outside and inside the house that has drastically belittled the house, bringing shame to members in the eyes of the general public.

Nzungi enumerated several occasions where the speaker, whom they overwhelmingly elected, beating seasoned politicians like Mutua Ndoto who since the inception of the devolution was the Kitui County Assembly speaker, acted in disrespectfully in several nightclubs in Kitui County.

One of the incidents Nzungi prominently highlighted is when the speaker caused two female MCAs engage in beastly and shameful fight vying for his illicit love in full the glare of the public.

Nzungi said the speaker has dishonoured Kitui county assembly members in a total opposite version after overwhelmingly electing him as their speaker against all odds which were evident feature and permanent catch ward on his side as a candidate.

The impeachment motion also claims that the speaker at one time flushed out the media from the assembly and opted to work in isolation with only his PA while using the assembly for his own money minting exploits 

Things started getting sour to once popular young and ambitious lawyer when he opposed Governor Malombe’s CECs appointees and went to court to challenge the appointment backed by some young MCAs who are bitterly baying for his blood in this impeachment motion mooted by Nzungi.

Although Governor Malombe later called press conference and shielded speaker Katisya Kinengo against any wrong doing, saying that he actually acted in the realms of the laws of Kenya, most MCA and County workers and operatives who adore Governor Malombe were yet to forgive him for that act.

Another self-inflicting incident against his popularity is that Kinengo welcomed President William Ruto’s daughter to his office and subsequently followed her to her Nairobi office at a time when most MCAs and County operatives wanted to hear nothing about President Ruto. 

He started spreading rumors that he would be state house in-laws soon. His team of affordable bloggers picked it up and run amok all over that the speaker was is indeed a state house in law.  

However, the same state house seems to bypass the speaker in Kitui county political engagements. Apart from saying that the UDA party has their senatorial candidate in the name of Daniel Kilonzo “Kitundumo”, the same state house has bypassed him and used other actors to execute the plan he had sold to President Ruto, a plan they thought would make Ruto secure at least 25 percent of vote from Kitui County.

Without the knowledge of Kitui County Assembly speaker, state house has clandestinely used PS Jonathan Mueke to pick two campaigners from every ward without the knowledge of Kinengo.

A Nairobi advocate, the speaker had a stint in high profile political engagement when he acted as personal assistant for both Wiper leaders Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka and former Makueni governor Professor Kivutha Kibwana. 

Kinengo who holds a master’s degree in law from University of Nairobi was educated via Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka Foundation Educational Fund.

He went to Musavani Primary School before securing a place at the prestigious Mang’u High School, then all the way through to University of Nairobi.