TURKANA CENTRAL – Pressure is mounting over delayed salaries in Turkana County, with Turkana Central MP Emathe Namuar asking Controller of Budget Dr Margaret Nyakang’o to urgently facilitate payment of outstanding wages as the financial impasse enters its third month.
In a letter dated September 14, 2026, Emathe appealed to the Controller of Budget to “prioritise and facilitate the requisite authorisation” for payment of county employees’ June, July and August salaries, subject to legal and budgetary requirements.
The MP says the prolonged delay has caused “significant hardship to county employees and their dependants,” affecting their ability to meet school fees, medical and housing expenses, loan obligations and other basic needs.
Emathe says the situation requires urgent intervention, citing Article 41 of the Constitution and Sections 17 and 18 of the Employment Act on workers’ rights to fair labour practices, fair remuneration and timely payment of wages.
The intervention comes after weeks of uncertainty over the county’s ability to access funds for its 2026/27 expenditure. On August 10, the Controller of Budget identified Turkana among four counties whose 2026/27 budgets had not been cleared, alongside Nyamira, Isiolo and Tharaka Nithi.
The CoB attributed the wider salary crisis affecting counties to delays in submitting budgets and gaps in documentation required for the clearance process. Turkana County had earlier informed its employees that the July salary delay was linked to “slow processing by relevant offices in Nairobi”, assuring workers that payment would be made once the necessary processes were completed.
But the problem has since persisted, with Emathe’s latest letter indicating that employees are now waiting for three months of salaries. The MP’s appeal also follows an August 31 communication from the Controller of Budget to the Turkana Governor concerning monitoring of the implementation of the 2026/27 county budget.
Emathe acknowledges that communication in his letter but says the continued delay in salaries has placed county workers and their families under considerable financial strain.
The salary crisis is unfolding alongside growing scrutiny of Turkana’s broader financial management. On September 8, Turkana Senator James Lomenen sought Senate intervention over development projects funded during the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years.
Lomenen wants the Senate to establish which projects were completed, which stalled and whether money allocated to projects that were never implemented was properly accounted for.
The senator’s intervention has added another layer of scrutiny to the county administration, with questions now being raised both about implementation of development projects and the county’s ability to meet its recurrent expenditure obligations.
It is against this backdrop that officers from the Nyakang’o led office arrived in Lodwar on Monday, September 14, bringing the Controller of Budget directly into a county facing mounting financial pressure. The visit comes on the same day Emathe formally asked her office to intervene in the salary crisis.
Attention is now turning to whether outstanding budget and compliance issues can be resolved and whether the Controller’s office can authorise the necessary withdrawals to facilitate payment of the accumulated salaries.
For county employees, the issue has moved beyond an ordinary payroll delay. Three months of unpaid salaries have left workers facing growing obligations, while political pressure is building through both the National Assembly and Senate.
Emathe’s letter now puts the immediate question before the Controller of Budget: whether the necessary authorisation can be secured to allow Turkana County employees to finally receive their outstanding June, July and August salaries.
