‘Years of Neglect’: As CS Mbadi Tables Budget, Kajiado West Demands Fair Share for Crumbling Infrastructure

​ As Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi delivered the fiscal year 2026/27 budget statement in Parliament on Thursday, the mood on the ground in Kajiado West was far from celebratory. Instead, local taxpayers used the moment to demand a fairer return on their investment, arguing that national resource allocation has completely ignored the constituency’s rapid growth.

​Watching the high-level televised proceedings from Kiserian town, residents lamented what they termed decades of systematic neglect. They noted a stark disconnect between the billions of shillings discussed in Nairobi and the severe underfunding of local infrastructure, health, and water systems.

​”We are asking that even as the government reads this budget, we must be considered,” said William Ng’ang’a, a local commuter. “The road from Nairobi is in a terrible state. We want to be proud as residents, and we request that these roads be completed.”

​Despite contributing significantly to the national tax base, Kajiado West continues to suffer from massive infrastructure gaps. Motorists report spending hours in gridlock along the narrow, pothole-riddled corridor linking Kiserian to Nairobi—a route residents claim has not seen a major overhaul since the colonial era.

​Samuel Sane, a local leader and Kajiado West parliamentary aspirant, echoed these economic frustrations. He questioned why local tax revenue has failed to translate into basic public utilities like healthcare facilities and educational institutions, forcing residents to seek services in neighboring counties.

​”The constituency still lags behind in development despite residents contributing taxes to the national government,” Sane stated, noting that his own repeated appeals to the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) over the past 18 months have yielded zero results.

​The budget outcry comes at a critical time for wananchi across Kenya, who are closely auditing the 2026/27 fiscal estimates to see if the government will finally prioritize grassroots water and road projects over grand national overheads. For Kajiado West, where a skyrocketing population is straining a dried-up water supply, the demand is clear: decentralize the budget to where the growth is actually happening.