Senate’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights Saturday lashed out at the Council of Governors (CoG) for defending governors accused of corruption.
The committee led by Busia County Senator Amos Wako piled pressure on governors implicated in graft to step aside and pave way for investigation, saying, “Corruption is not a collective issue of all governors.”
Wako and the committee he chairs were reacting to Friday’s statement by the CoG in which governors alleged to be in the so called list of shame said the President has no powers to call for their resignation or suspension.
On Friday, the governors accused President Uhuru Kenyatta of displaying double standards by not asking his Deputy President William Ruto to step aside or resign despite the grave charges he is facing at the International Criminal Court.
Wako said Saturday in Diani, Kwale that although President Kenyatta has no powers to demand the resignation of the governors, they “are morally bound to pave way for investigation and once cleared they can return back”.
“The fact of the matter is that the President has no powers to force any elected leader to step aside but governors should remember that the sovereign power is with the people and should pave way for the people to know how they are spending their money,” said Wako at Swahili Beach in Kwale Saturday.
He called on Kenyans to demand for the stepping aside of the governors and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to speed up investigation and arraign those found to have embezzled funds in court.
Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jnr said it was wrong for the CoG to rally its members to defend those said to be in the list.
“Corruption is not a matter that is uniform to all governors. This is an individual issue and those found culpable should be arrest and prosecuted,” said Mutula.
He called on the EACC to fast track the investigation and arraign those found to have misused tax bearers money in court.
They commended the President on his move to hand over the list of the suspects to Parliament but cautioned legislatures against what he termed as mob lynching of the suspect during the debates on Tuesday next week.
“We must exercise extra caution so that we don’t turn to be the prosecutors, the jury and the judges. We must know those individuals are still not guilty,” said Mutula.
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