Mung'aro blames systems for zero development spending

Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro yesterday defended his administration following a report that the county had zero development spending between July and September 2025.

Mung’aro attributed the delay in rolling out projects to challenges posed by the national government’s newly introduced procurement system.

He said while some counties continued to use the old system, Kilifi opted to fully comply with the new framework, resulting in temporary setbacks.

"The last quarter we have been having two problems. The government has introduced a new procurement system. We have only trained 133 workers, and the rest have been using the old system of doing procurement manually," he said.

In a report, the Controller of Budget (CoB) listed 20 counties, including Kilifi, that had zero development spending in the first quarter of the current financial year.

The governor further said that the county has pending bills amounting to Sh2.9 billion, contributing to the delayed development spending.

"There are so many pending bills, like the one we have with KEMSA. We are still paying Sh50 million every month so that we can get more medicine," he said.

He further clarified that despite these challenges, Kilifi County successfully relied on its own-source revenue to cover operations, maintenance, salaries, and personnel costs.

Meanwhile, Mung’aro warned that contracts for long-delayed initiatives will be terminated if contractors fail to provide formal requests for extensions.

"We have pending projects from the last ten years which were not completed. We will cancel all of them, and the public works will go and do the evaluation work and pay them for what they have built and give the projects to someone else," he said.

He added, 'We will continue to identify all projects that have stagnated and cancel contracts where necessary.' Accountability must be upheld.” he added.

The governor further revealed that his administration has put in place strategies to reduce the backlog of pending bills owed to suppliers and contractors.

He emphasised that clearing these debts is critical to restoring confidence among stakeholders and ensuring smooth implementation of future projects.

On the new Sh500 million county headquarters, the governor said that once it's complete, it will enhance efficiency and improve service delivery.

''Yearly we pay more than 50 million to private owners of different buildings. But this 5-storey building will reduce our rent by 60 per cent per year. The project is 70 per cent complete,'' he said.

The building will use green energy. Engineer Christopher Kiuro, a representative of the eco builders company, says the project is expected to be completed by next year, October.

"Over 75 locals have benefited from the project," he said.