Jack Ranguma refuses to meet senators

Kisumu, Kenya: Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma, has maintained that he will not honour summons from the Senate that wants him to appear before it to answer questions in regard to an audit report of his county.

Ranguma maintained that he had sent his county finance officer and the chief finance officer with all the information and detailed responses to questions raised by the Senate.

"'I am not ready to succumb to any pressure whatsoever. It is baseless for the Senate to insist on meeting me on duties I have delegated to my juniors," he said.

The officers were turned down by the Senate, which insisted that Ranguma must appear in person.

"Accounting issues can effectively be dealt by my finance officers but they were rejected by the Senate. We are reading mischief in this sermon," he said.

The governor asked the Senate to respect the office of the governor, saying they were dully elected and deserve to be given respect and space to govern.

"We are the county bosses and the senators should know that. It is no doubt that we (governors) respect the senators and they too, need to reciprocate," he added.

In recent weeks, supremacy battle between the Senate and governors has intensified raising fears over the future of devolution.