Africa-Press – Kenya. Senate’s County Public Accounts Committee has issued formal summons to Kericho Governor Eric Mutai and his Isiolo counterpart Abdi Guyo.
This is after the two failed to honour scheduled appearances Friday, prompting fierce protest from senators who termed the conduct “contemptuous, dishonest and a violation of leadership responsibilities.”
The two governors were expected to appear before CPAC to respond to audit queries for the 2023-24 financial year.
They wrote to the committee seeking postponements, letters senators dismissed as last-minute, unconvincing and “an affront to Parliament.”
Committee chairperson, Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang, castigated the governors for what he described as deliberate attempts to frustrate the committee’s constitutionally time-bound work.
“It is disheartening that today, the two governors chose not to appear before this committee,” Kajwang said.
“The governor of Kericho sent a letter received at 5:27am this morning calling for postponement. We take that as contempt of Parliament.”
Kajwang added that Isiolo’s Governor Guyo also wrote a letter dated November 19 seeking deferment of the November 21 meeting.
“We have communicated to counties that any request for postponement must be made seven days before the meeting. We issue a 14-day notice, so you cannot, on the morning of the meeting or a day before, say you are unavailable,” he said.
The chair noted that the office of the Auditor General and other oversight institutions had already travelled to Nairobi for the hearings, incurring expenses, yet the governors failed to notify them in advance.
“We find the conduct of the two governors contemptuous and in violation of Article 73 on honesty in execution of public duties,” he said.
Kajwang said the committee had resolved to invoke the “nuclear option” and compel the two governors to appear through summons.
He stressed that the Senate must beat the constitutional deadline to conclude examination of the 2023-24 reports by December 31, 2025.
“We shall sit even over Christmas if we must. We shall send summons even on the 31st or on Boxing Day. We have a job to do,” he declared.
Kajwang also warned county assemblies that have recently been skipping hearings on claims of participating in CASA games or travel engagements.
“When we call the county assemblies, we are not calling the entire House. We expect the clerk, speaker and board members to appear. This excuse will not be entertained going forward,” he said.
In his letter, Governor Mutai argued that he was preparing to host another group of senators in his county.
“I do hereby request for a postponement and rescheduling of the appearance scheduled for Friday, November 21, 2025 to a later date. This is in view of an upcoming visit by the honorable senators to Kericho county on an oversight and engagement exercise on revenue management systems, infrastructure, IFMIS integration and its challenges.”
Mutai said the visit will be hosted in his office in Kericho on the same day, he explained in the letter dated November 19, addressed to the clerk of the Senate.
Mutai argued that the supposed Senate delegation to Kericho made it impossible for him to appear before CPAC in Nairobi, claims senators dismissed as misleading.
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei rubbished the explanation, terming Mutai “clever but dishonest.”
“He does not indicate which committee is allegedly visiting Kericho. I’m a member of the ICT committee, and we had no plan whatsoever to visit Kericho today,” Cherargei said.
“He had enough time to prepare, yet he chose tricks and excuses.”
Cherargei added that Mutai’s behaviour justified past attempts to impeach him.
“I voted to impeach this governor in the last two attempts. This reinforces my belief that he is not capable of running Kericho,” he said, further proposing that the governor be fined to reimburse expenses incurred by the Auditor General’s office.
On his part, Guyo through the county secretary wrote: “We wish inform you that His Excellency, the governor, will not be available on the said date due to unavoidable commitment. In light of this, we kindly request the committee to consider the rescheduling the meeting to a later date to allow him to appear in person as required.”
It continues: “We further wish to assure the committee that, not withstanding the request for scheduling, all responses, clarifications, supporting documentation relating to the Auditor General’s reports have been compiled and will be submitted for your consideration. We remain committed to upholding transparency, accountability.”
Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi described the governors’ conduct as “the highest form of contempt,” singling out Mutai, who recently survived a second impeachment attempt.
“He is giving flimsy grounds that he is hosting governors. He must be summoned within the shortest time possible and this should serve as an example,” Osotsi said.
He warned that governors must stop the habit of “writing last-minute love letters” to seek postponement.
“If a governor cannot appear, there must be justifiable cause,” he said.
Vice chairperson Johnes Mwarume backed the summons, saying the Senate must act decisively to protect the integrity of oversight.
Kajwang reminded members that both Kericho and Isiolo had previously appeared before the Senate during impeachment processes, but proceedings fell through on technicalities.
“When assemblies move motions to impeach governors, it signals dysfunction. It is our duty to pursue the issues and restore harmony between assemblies and executives,” he said.
The committee ruled that any future postponement requests must be made seven days in advance and must be convincing, adding that failure to comply would automatically trigger summons.
Should the summons be ignored, senators warned that the next step would be to invoke the law and compel the Inspector General of Police to physically present the governors before the Senate.
Kericho’s Mutai and Isiolo’s Guyo are now required to appear before CPAC on dates to be communicated by the Clerk of the Senate.
Kajwang said the committee would sit and determine appropriate dates to summon the two.
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