Your days are numbered; Senate warns 'corrupt' governors

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki chairs the IGRTC pre-summit meeting at the Official Residence, Karen, Nairobi, attended by the Council of Governors leadership and government officials, among other role players in devolution on December 13, 2024. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard] The Senate oversight committees have warned corrupt governors that they will be held responsible for the theft of billions of shillings in public funds. The Senate County Public Accounts Committee and Senate County Public Investment and Special Funds Committee Members said that they will formulate criteria for ranking counties to establish those that have performed well. Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang who was re-elected to serve as Senate County Public Accounts Committee Chairperson and Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi who was re-elected to serve as the Senate County Public Investment and Special Funds Committee Chairperson respectively expressed concern over embezzling of billions of shillings of county funds in the last 12 years of devolution. Both committees held elections for new officials in Parliament buildings after the Senate leadership dissolved all the committees and reconstituted afresh following the camaraderie between President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga. Irked by the High Court ruling that all audit reports must be reviewed and considered by Parliament within three months from the date of reception from the Office of the Auditor General, Kajwang' n proposed the introduction of an omnibus motion to deal with the 47 County Executive Reports. READ: EACC: Four governors to face corruption charges Kajwang' said the constitution requires parliament to consider and take appropriate actions on the reports within three months stating that they will bring one motion for discussion where all the reports will be tabled for discussion. "We will ensure that all audit reports will be brought to the House in one motion and we will ask the House Business Committee to set aside at least a week for debate. We will go through the report's general recommendations, and then direct the committee to invite the governors to deal with specific recommendations," said Kajwang'. "This round will focus more on the implementation of our reports and also on county visits to see exactly what is happening, we are out to ensure that public funds allocated to counties do not end up in a bottomless pit even as those who are responsible lobby to get favourable slots in opinion polls," said Kajwang. The Homa Bay Senator said the Senate will be reporting on the performance of various counties to counter what has been offered by some opinion pollsters which may not always reflect what is on the ground to ensure that the citizens know the truth. Kajwang said one of their first assignment is to meet with the Chairperson of Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Bishop David Oginde and the Commission CEO Abdi Mohamud to deliberate on the entity's commitment to fight corruption. Osotsi also said that it was not practical for the houses of parliament to look at the auditor general reports for national and County Government entities within a short period stating that it would limit the performance of their oversight work. "It is not practical for Parliament and County Assemblies to process reports with less than six months, the High Court ruling made over that matter was unfair which calls for parliament to seek a review to ensure that its oversight role is not impended," said Osotsi. The Vihiga Senator said that the committee has over 1,000 reports to look at and that it would not be tenable for it to look at them within six months promising to lead the committee in carrying out its work in a fair and balanced manner without prejudice to any individual or agency. Osotsi said that they managed to look at the audit reports of 80 water companies and had started to look at the audit reports of public hospitals at the county level and that they will continue with that process to ensure that they are all audited to ensure prudent expenditure of public funds. He said that they were also dealing with the issue of unremitted County and defunct local authorities pensions amounting to Sh80 billion which they hope will be resolved very soon to ensure that retirees who have been suffering for long get justice. Taita Taveta Senator Johnes Mwaruma was elected to serve as the committee Senate County Public Accounts Committee Vice Chairperson defeating the previous holder for the position Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei after garnering 5 votes against 4 votes in a secret ballot exercise conducted by members. ALSO READ: Kenya Governors' new course of action to tame corruption in counties Migori Senator Eddie Oketch was elected as the Vice Chairperson of Senate County Public Investment and Special Funds garnering five votes against Nominated Senator Peris Tobiko who got three votes taking over from former Vice Chairperson Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda who is no longer a member of the committee following changes effected. Sifuna congratulated Kajwang and Mwaruma who are both members of the ODM Party stating the oversight committee has always been a preserve for the opposition so that to help keep the government in check asking them to work together to ensure that they achieve their mandate. Kitui Senator Enock Wambua urged the committee to ensure that this time round they do not invite Governors to respond to audit reports of the previous administrations stating that they should work with speed to ensure that they perform their work within expected timelines. Oketch urged all members notwithstanding their political affiliation to work together to ensure that they clear a backlog of pending work before they embark on new assignments with their key mandate being to ensure that county funds are well utilized. "I would like to thank all members for allowing me to serve as your Vice Chairperson, we would together to ensure the prudent expenditure of various county funds, I would also like to thank Senator Tobiko who was my worth competitor for conceding defeat," said Oketch.

Your days are numbered; Senate warns 'corrupt' governors

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