Ugly twist in battle to control counties’ cash

Nairobi, Kenya: A planned meeting to broker a truce between senators and governors aborted at the eleventh hour as both parties stuck to their hardline positions, The Standard has established.

The talks had been scheduled for Monday afternoon at Boma Hotel in Nairobi’s South C estate, away from the media glare, but fell flat even before participants got to the venue.

It is unclear which side had initiated the crisis talks because when The Standard sought out the warring parties, both claimed to have rejected overtures from each other, but sources suggested Senate Speaker Ekwee Ethuro’s office had sent out invitations.

While governors acknowledged the meeting was planned, they say they refused to turn up because they felt senators were not sincere as they had kept up the belligerent attitude towards them.

Senators, too, claimed governors had reached out to them but the lawmakers claim they insisted the county chiefs must first honour Senate summonses.

THOSE INVITED

Those expected at the secret talks included Ethuro, Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki, Minority Leader Moses Wetang’ula, Committee chairmen Billow Kerrow (Finance), Boni Khalwale (Public Accounts and Investment) and Kipchumba Murkomen (Devolution).

The Council of Governors (CoG) executive was to be represented by Isaac Ruto (chairman), Salim Mvurya (Vice-Chairman) and Kenneth Lusaka (whip), and fellow county bosses Ahmed Abdullahi Mohammed (Wajir) and Nderitu Gachagua (Nyeri).

Tuesday, Ruto, who is also Bomet Governor, confirmed to The Standard that the meeting was indeed planned, but governors decided not to attend, saying senators were still pushing for the creation of County Development Boards that county chiefs say are designed to clip their executive power.

“Our meeting was meant to engage the senators on the outstanding issues affecting counties, including the creation of boards and summonses, but we realised it was going to be an exercise in futility,” said Ruto.

He added: “The senators have continued to harass us with summonses on audit queries by the Auditor General yet our financial officers are better placed to respond to the questions sought.”

Body language

Ruto said it was unfortunate that instead of the Senate protecting county interests, senators are busy demonising  governors, alleging it was an effort by the Jubilee Government to kill devolution.

“Recently, the Deputy President William Ruto’s body language confirmed a concerted effort by the Government to bully governors and portray us in negative light. This is a Jubilee project,” he claimed.

The county bosses also said they were following a resolution reached at Kempiski Hotel last Friday not to take part in any further meetings with the senators unless the stalemate is resolved.

But Senators too claimed it is they who snubbed the governors for ignoring the Senate committee’s summonses.

Prof Kindiki told The Standard: “After consultations with fellow senators, we agreed not to hold any meetings with the governors until they heed to our summonses. As much as we want to work with the governors, the issues of accountability cannot be wished away.”

Dr Khalwale confirmed the planned meeting, but said that he excused himself to attend to matters of his committee.

“I received an invite through the Speaker’s office. On Monday morning, I excused myself to attend to my committee,” said the Kakamega Senator.

The meeting reportedly was scheduled through telephone calls and later followed through by short text messages. “The meeting was set to diffuse the rising tension between the two institutions and forge the way forward for devolution to work,” said a Senator leader, who sought anonymity.

He continued: “The governors had also requested for a neutral environment where they could engage the leaders with ease. We settled on Boma Hotel.”

Pre-condition

Senator Murkomen stressed that governors must account before they can engage in any meaningful discussions.

“Accountability is not negotiable. We must know how funds are spent,” he added.

Ruto, however, regretted that the path taken by the senators, who are supposed to protect counties, would undermine devolution.

“We are going to stick to the Constitution. The senators are hellbent on harassing county governments by demanding their presence before them at the expense of discharging our duties. The lawmakers’ role is general. Their oversight is restricted to national revenue and not daily expenditure of funds in counties,” Ruto explained.

“At what point will senators oversee all the 270 ministries in counties if they were to do so?” he asked.

Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka, however, said he was not aware of the meeting.

The governors said they believe the the Presidency is working to undermine devolution through Parliament and therefore did not feel it was right to engage the Senate.

Whereas governors have accused senators of trying to usurp powers of the county assemblies to oversee the counties’ executives, the Senate has maintained that governors must account for funds under their care.

The feud has degenerated into the push for a referendum, with the governors alleging bullying and intimidation by the Presidency and Parliament, and vowing not to take part in the development boards.