A collage of CoG chair Ahmed Abdullahi and CPAC chairperson Moses Kajwang./HANDOUTA 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 on Monday.
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.
