Senators to surcharge Governor Kabogo over lawsuit to injunct senate

A move by Kiambu Governor William Kabogo to bar the senate from discharging its oversight role has now landed him in trouble.

The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday ordered that he be surcharged for "jumping the gun" by moving to court before exhausting intergovernmental dispute resolution mechanisms.

"We are going to proceed with the determination of the petition. These litigations are unwarranted. People simply do not want to be accountable, every institution including Parliament must be held to account," stressed committee chairman senator Billow Kerrow (Mandera).

He continued, "This lawsuit is a waste of public resources and time. We demand that the individual plaintiff be surcharged. We cannot continue to ignore the available dispute resolution mechanisms and continue rushing to court at the slightest provocation."

The senate is currently probing alleged abuse of office by Kabogo, breach of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act and the Public Procurement and Disposal Act in the purchase of 42 vehicles at a cost of Sh221million by the county government of Kiambu.

In a bid to block the senate from hearing the petition, Kabogo through the Council of Governor (CoG) moved to court few days ago, to obtain orders barring it from investigating the claims.

Kabogo has also individually sued Speaker Ekwe Ethuro and members of the Finance committee.

However, the court failed to grant the interim orders sought by the Governor and has instead scheduled the hearing of the case for September 14th after the Senate opposed the case.

Senator Billow said the committee will engage the Auditor General Edward Ouko to factor the legal costs in the audit reports.

Senators Billow, Mutula Kilonzo Jnr (Makueni), Wilfred Machage (Migori), Zipporah Kittony (Nominated) and Catherine Mukiite (Nominated) expressed concern that governors through the council continue to involve courts in every query raised by various constitutional institutions.

"Kiambu county government and the council are wasting taxpayers' money to serve personal interests. Courts must also now direct the people responsible should be liable to costs," said Kilonzo Jnr.

Senator Kerrow said the governor will not stop the committee from going ahead to listen to the petition against him, despite filing the case in court.

"The conduct of the business of Parliament cannot be stopped by anybody and anyone. Matters within the senate's mandate are protected legally and therefore we will proceed with our oversight role," emphasized Kerrow.

He continued, "We take strong exception to actions by the governor and CoG to try to block senate from doing its work. Let's make use of the elaborate intergovernmental dispute resolution mechanisms. Senate is responsible for its own procedure."

Mukite and Kittony are to engage other organs of governments in resolving disputes instead of resorting to legal battles.

Kiambu County is accused of refusing assent to the Supplementary Appropriation Bill, without due process being followed.

The county executive proposed additional funds for Sh2 million for roads, Sh15 for agriculture and Sh221million for vehicles.

The locals have accused the governor of abuse of office and misuse of funds in procurement of ambulances and vehicles for departments.

The committee has summoned the Speaker and clerk of the County Assembly to shed light on the purchase of the vehicles.

"Next Tuesday the two will appear before us to respond to these queries. The Governor will also appear before us on 14th of this month. A governor cannot abuse his power influencing the legislative process," said Kerrow.

He added," They will be required to present the report by the assembly's budget committee, which was in contention. We shall seek to establish if the assembly discussed the budget committee report on the bill."