The suspension has left MCAs, employees and their eligible dependants unable to access healthcare through the Assembly’s medical scheme while a separate notice from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) demands payment of outstanding income tax and housing levy.
“The Assembly’s medical cover has been suspended due to outstanding premiums. Consequently, Members, staff and their eligible dependants are presently unable to access medical services under the Assembly’s medical scheme,” Speaker Anne Kiusya said in a notice dated October 9, 2026, adding that management is pursuing ways to restore the service.
The KRA notice relates to income tax and housing levy for the July-to-September 2026 period, adding to the Assembly’s outstanding financial obligations. Some planned programmes and activities have also been temporarily halted.
Machakos Speaker Anne Kiusya and Governor Wavinya Ndeti.
Photo credit: File
Ms Kiusya acknowledged that the financial difficulties had affected the Assembly’s ability to meet its obligations and sustain scheduled activities.
“Management is actively pursuing all available avenues to address the financial challenges, settle outstanding obligations and restore normal operations, including the reinstatement of the medical cover and continuity of scheduled Assembly programmes,” she said.
The notices come as the Assembly remains locked in a dispute with Ms Ndeti over the County Appropriations Bill, 2026, which she returned for reconsideration on August 28.
Governor Ndeti rejects Machakos Sh17.8bn budget
The disagreement centres on amendments made by MCAs to the Sh17billion budget, with the governor accusing the Assembly of unlawfully cutting Sh853.96 million from key county programmes, including garbage collection, the youth service, the Wikwatyo Fund, bursaries and the county revenue system.
The Assembly passed the Bill with amendments on August 18. The governor subsequently returned it for reconsideration, escalating tensions between the county executive and the legislature.
The dispute spilled into a public confrontation on August 31 when Ms Ndeti went to the Assembly premises to present a memorandum on the rejected budget.
The governor accused Speaker Kiusya and the Clerk of refusing to receive her documents, saying her officers had been at the Assembly since morning without success.
“My officers have been at the Assembly since morning, but once again, the Speaker and the Clerk refused to receive the documents. For that reason, I decided to come personally to present the memorandum,” she said.
Ms Ndeti also pushed for the withdrawal of 50 per cent of the 2026/2027 budget estimates to sustain county operations, a measure the Assembly later approved.
The confrontation prompted the Assembly to launch investigations into the conduct of the governor and those who accompanied her.
On September 1, Ms Kiusya said an internal inquiry and the Committee on Powers and Privileges would investigate the incident.
The Machakos County Assembly during a past session.
Photo credit: File| Nation Media Group
According to the Speaker’s account, the governor arrived at the Assembly on August 31 accompanied by county officials, armed security personnel and members of the public including people identified as media personnel.
The group allegedly proceeded to the Speaker’s Secretariat and demanded the official receiving stamp before the governor went to the Clerk’s office. Ms Kiusya said the governor confronted the Clerk over the alleged failure to stamp and formally receive her memorandum.
The Clerk maintained that the documents had already been received and were in the Assembly’s custody.
The Assembly also announced investigations into claims that some accredited media personnel were involved in the incident, warning that those found culpable could lose their accreditation.
The confrontation triggered protests outside the Assembly on September 2 when hundreds of residents demanded that MCAs pass the county budget.
The suspension of medical cover has now placed Assembly members, employees and their families directly in the path of the institution’s financial difficulties.
However, the Speaker’s notice does not specify the causes of the outstanding payments or establish whether the budget dispute is directly responsible for the failure to settle the medical premiums and taxes.
Ms Kiusya said management was pursuing all available options to settle the outstanding obligations and return the Assembly’s operations to normal, but gave no timeline for the reinstatement of medical services.
“We appreciate your cooperation, resilience and understanding on this matter,” she said.
