A fresh standoff has erupted between county governors and senators over accountability for billions of shillings disbursed to devolved units.
The governors are threatening to boycott Senate oversight sessions, accusing lawmakers of intimidation and political witch-hunts.
The row pits the Council of Governors (CoG) against the Senate County Public Accounts Committee (CPAC), which has in recent weeks intensified scrutiny of county expenditure following audit reports by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu.
Governors claim that appearances before the Senate committee have increasingly turned hostile, humiliating and politically charged, rather than constructive engagements aimed at improving public finance management.
“The Council of Governors notes with great concern the continuous and escalating political witch-hunt, harassment, intimidation and humiliation of governors by senators,” CoG chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi said on Monday.
Abdullahi, who is also the Wajir Governor, was addressing journalists during a council retreat in Kilifi County.
He said the Senate oversight process had become punitive.
As a result, the governors resolved that they would not appear before CPAC to respond to audit queries until their concerns are addressed through what they termed “structured engagement” between Senate leadership and the council.
“To this effect, the council has resolved that governors will not appear before the CPAC committee until these concerns are addressed,” Abdullahi said.
The Senate, however, dismissed the claims, accusing governors of attempting to evade scrutiny and undermine constitutional oversight.
In a swift rejoinder, CPAC chairperson Moses Kajwang’ accused county bosses of trying to bully the Senate and dictate how oversight should be conducted.
“They want to choose who sits in committees, when they should appear and how they should be questioned. I have never seen a case where suspects demand to empanel the bench,” Kajwang’ said.
He argued that the criticism directed at his committee comes at a time when serious allegations of misuse and theft of public funds have emerged from recent audit and media reports.
“Kenyans are not foolish. They have seen the plunder in counties and can tell that governors are attempting to intimidate the Senate to stop asking hard questions,” Kajwang’ said.
Citing Articles 125 and 229 of the Constitution, Kajwang’ said the Senate has a clear mandate to consider the reports of the Auditor-General and summon any person to provide evidence.
“Accountability is not a favour to the Senate; it is a constitutional duty owed to the Kenyan people,” he said, urging governors to submit any evidence of harassment to relevant oversight institutions.
“We will continue to do what we were elected to do. Where public resources have been pilfered, we will inject without mercy,” Kajwang’ added.
In the past two weeks, CPAC has grilled several governors over audit queries for the 2024-25 financial year, exposing what appears to be questionable expenditure across several counties.
In their statement, governors also complained of being summoned multiple times within a single audit cycle to respond to different funds and issues.
“In this regard, governors have resolved that they will only appear once for every audit cycle,” the council said.
The standoff now threatens to deepen tensions between the two arms of government, raising concerns over the future of county oversight and accountability.
