Senators to governors: We will hold you accountable

Senators have rubbished claims by some governors that they have involved themselves in improper conduct, as urged to account for the billions of shillings allocated to counties by the Treasury.

This is even as the Council of Governors appeared to climb down from their earlier threat of boycotting the Senate Public Accounts Committee meeting for scrutiny.

The CoG Chairperson, Ahmed Abdullahi, yesterday called for an engagement with the leadership of the Senate at the earliest time possible to address concerns they had raised in order to develop a working framework with the Senate Oversight Committees.

Meanwhile, Senate County Public Accounts Committee Chairperson Moses Kajwang and Senate County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee Chairperson Godfrey Osotsi vowed to continue with their oversight roles despite the Governor's raising complaints.  

Kajwang said that the Council of Governors has turned out to be a gossip club and a trade union to defend impunity and that instead of Governors mudslinging Senators, they should table evidence of their allegations of extortion, harassment and intimidation.

"They want to choose who sits in the committees, when they should appear and how they should be questioned. I have never seen a case where suspects demand to empanel the bench; that is completely ridiculous and it can never happen in the Senate,” said Kajwang.

He said the attack by Governors comes against a backdrop of serious allegations of theft of public resources that have been unearthed by the Auditor General and mainstream media in the past few weeks, saying that Kenyans are not foolish and have seen the plunder in counties.

The Homa Bay Senator said that they are welcoming the Governors to submit any evidence they may have of extortion and harassment to the relevant institutions, stating that in the meantime, the Senate will continue to do what we have been elected to do.

Kajwang said that Article 229 and 125 have given the Senate the power to consider the reports of the Auditor General and to summon any person for purposes of giving evidence and that is exactly what the Senate has been doing.

"We call on the Governors to stop the side shows and live up to their constitutional obligations. Accountability is not a favor to the Senate; it is a duty to the public. Kenyans can tell that Governors are bullying the Senate to stop asking hard questions,” said Kajwang.

Osotsi said Parliament has 90 days to examine Auditor General reports and take an appropriate action, pointing out that it was counties that moved to court to question the validity of the reports, with the High Court ruling that Parliament has to adhere to constitutional timelines. 

"We have 560 Auditor General reports that have to be examined before my committee, the Controller of Budget, Auditor General, and Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission have been sending their officers to our meetings,” said Osotsi.

The Vihiga Senator said Governors are finding it punitive to attend committee sittings while Senators and relevant entities are sacrificing to appear before the committee, and that the Senate was conducting its oversight role, and Governors should not behave as if they are being punished.

Osotsi said it was not possible to have only one County appearing per day since they have to split panels in order to ensure that they beat the March 31 deadline, and the Council of Governors should review its position on the matter. 

The Vihiga Senator said that if Governors are not ready to be accountable before the Senate Committees, they should be ready to face the consequences by being surcharged on behalf of all those who have taken their time to attend the meeting. 

"How can Governors who are not ready to be held accountable perform their roles as Senators since some of them are seeking that position after completing their second terms in office? We will adopt the Auditor General reports as they are, if they do not come,” said Osotsi.

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna reminded the Governors that they are being asked questions from the testimonies they present to the Senate.

Sifuna gave the example of Mandera Governor Mohammed Khalif, whose administration used Sh 55 million for seedlings in a dry county and Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire who admitted she used Sh10 million for a bodaboda event from County Aggregation Industrial Park.

The Nairobi Senator gave other examples of Vihiga Governor Wilbur Ottichillo admitted they used Sh5 million on a house warming party for the Speaker's residence, while Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka admitted that some Sh4 million was used to light up a Christmas Tree.

"The Governors are the ones embarrassing themselves, the other day Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki ran away from the Senate and one day claimed he had left his glasses at home and could not read what was in a report he presented yet he had the audacity of calling us extortionist,” said Sifuna.

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei said appearing before the Senate is not a privilege but a constitutional obligation terming the Council of Governors as a club of billionaires that is out to defend what they have acquired during their tenure in office without caring for their people.

Cherargei said that the Council of Governors meeting should have spoken about the drought situation in the country and other pressing issues instead of attacking Senators for doing their work and that they will continue executing their constitutional mandate.

Senate Speaker Amason Kingi wants senators and governors to hold talks over summons.

Kingi said it was embarrassing for senators and county chiefs to engage in a war of words over appearances before committees of the House.

The speaker said the Senate was constitutionally mandated to summon governors to answer to audit queries and that the two groups of leaders should sit down and iron out differences instead of "talking at each other" through the media.

"The Senate is mandated to summon you to address audit queries for accountability. If there are challenges, let us use the right channels, but accountability can't be substituted with anything else," Kingi said.

Speaking at the burial of Uasin Gishu senator Jackson Mandago's mother, Esther Lelei, in Kuinet, Soy Constituency yesterday, Kingi said the spats will worsen animosity between senators and governors.

"I have been a governor for ten years, and I have had no problem attending the senate. Let us sit down and iron out challenges," said Kingi.

The speaker further said, "We can't resolve everything through press statements. Addressing each other through the press will not take us anywhere."

He added that Kenyans were looking up to leaders to solve problems and didn't expect squabbles and drama.

Kingi also waded into Rift politics, which dominated the burial.

He warned that President William Ruto's support in the Rift Valley should be maximum if the President is to enjoy votes from other regions.

"Rift Valley and the coast have historically been in one political fold. The late Ronald Ngala and the second President of Kenya, Daniel arap Moi, started KADU in 1960. We want to restore that political friendship in the 2027 elections. We are retracing our political footsteps where Moi and Ngala left us," he said.

Nominated Senator Joyce Korir said governors should be held accountable for the actions in the running of counties.

"Let everyone do their work so that it's not only the President who is castigated. Everyone must have answers for what they were mandated to do," Ms Korir said.

On Monday, Council of Governors chairman Ahmed Abdullahi claimed that some senators were extorting governors summoned to appear before their committee over audit queries.

He cited the County Public Accounts Committee (CPAC) and further alleged a political witch-hunt.
But senators maintained that they were executing their mandate and denied claims of extortion.

Nyamira Senator Okong'o Omogeni said he will work with Mandago during the post-Ruto era.

"I am with Fred Matiang'i, but when William Ruto exits, I want to work with Mandago. I am looking at the future.

Mandago has held my hand for years," he said.

The burial ceremony was also graced by National Assembly speaker Moses Wetang'ula, several governors, and over 40 MPs.