By Abdullahi Jamaa
Wajir Governor and Chair of the Council of Governors, Ahmed Abdullahi, has announced that county governments will pursue legal action against the Office of the Controller of Budget over delays in the approval of counties’ budget.
Speaking on Sunday at Catholic Primary School during the final day of the “Don’t Hide Me” campaign, an initiative aimed at raising awareness about children with special needs, the governor strongly criticised Controller of Budget Dr Margaret Nyakang’o.
“The Controller of Budget has put a lot of bottlenecks that we don’t understand,” the agitated governor said. “She is taking the county governments through hell.”
He noted that counties are unable to deliver essential services to citizens due to persistent delays and bureaucratic hurdles from the Controller’s office.
“We can’t do anything, we can’t pay bursaries,” he said. “And our input is disregarded with contempt.”
Accompanied by Wajir East MP Aden Daud, Garissa Town MP Dekow Mohamed, and Wajir County Woman Representative Fatuma Jehow, Governor Abdullahi issued a stern warning to the Controller’s office over its impact on county operations.
“We are sending a warning to her and we will take legal action,” he added.
The governor also raised concerns over the financial strain faced by already underfunded counties, highlighting the difficulty of operating under tight budgets.
“Counties are receiving less than 10% of the national budget. The Controller of Budget approves national government budgets, why is it so difficult for the counties?”
The development follows the National Treasury’s allocation of Sh405 billion to counties in the budget for the financial year ending June 30, 2026 well below the counties’ demand of Sh536 billion.
Governors have since threatened to boycott future negotiations on the division of revenue between the national and county governments.
Meanwhile, the governor called on pastoralist communities to register for the Social Health Authority (SHA), citing low registration rates compared to other regions.
“Pastoralist counties are lagging behind in SHA registration. In Wajir, only 21% of people have registered themselves.”
He urged residents to register for the scheme in order to reduce the burden of healthcare costs in the region.
“We call upon our people to register in order to reduce the cost of medical care.”
Garissa Town MP Dekow Mohamed also urged local residents to embrace and register en masse for the SHA scheme to access primary and basic healthcare services.
“Our region has the lowest registration rate for the SHA programme, and my county, Garissa, is the worst-performing,” the MP said. “I urge our people to come forward and register for SHA.”
