Kenya's Senate gets nod to summon governors

Nairobi, Kenya: The High Court has ruled that governors are accountable to the Senate on the use of monies allocated to counties.

A three-judge bench composed of Isaac Lenaola, Mumbi Ngugi and George Odunga ruled yesterday that governors, as the chief executive officers of the devolved units, can be summoned by the Senate when it is probing the use of funds allocated to their respective counties.

However, the bench ruled that the Senate cannot order the Controller of Budget to freeze accounts of governors who defy the summons.

“It is clear the Senate has powers to receive financial reports and audits. This role is wider in scope as it (Senate) is mandated to scrutinise the audits and make recommendations on the allocation of money to the counties and thus has powers to summon anybody to appear before it," the judges ruled.

The judges likened the Senate to a court of law, and noted that the law does not require a court of law to freeze the accounts of a witness in a bid to force them to give a testimony.

"The Senate does not have sole constitutional powers to direct the National Treasury and Controller of Budget not to release funds to the counties without following the provisions of Article 225 of the Constitution," the three-judge bench ruled.

Last year, the Senate summoned the governors for Baringo, Kiambu, Murang'a and Kisumu counties to answer questions on management of funds allocated to them.

However, governors Isaac Ruto, William Kabogo, Mwangi wa Iria and Jack Ranguma defied the orders, leading the Senate to direct the National Treasury to freeze their accounts.

The Council of Governors (CoG) then moved to court accusing the Senate of usurping the constitutional powers of the county assemblies, saying the only time they were answerable to senators was during impeachments.

"The summons contravene Article 222(2) of the Constitution that provide that an accounting officer of a national public entity is accountable to the National Assembly for its financial management and the accounting officer of a county public entity is accountable to the county assembly," the petition by the governors read.

Through their lawyers Peter Wanyama and Wilfred Nyamu, the 47 governors said they were open to accountability, but through the proper channels.

"It is important that the Public Financial Management Act 2012 be adhered to. This is important in creating harmony and consistency in decision making and governance at county level," Mr Wanyama argued.

However, the judges held that the Senate acted in accordance with the Constitution as far as its oversight mandate is concerned.

'We see no fault with the summons. There is nothing unconstitutional about governors being summoned," the judges ruled.

Take responsibility

They said since the governors were the CEOs of the county governments, they could not escape responsibility, especially in accounting for the use of public funds. The court also held that members of executive committee can also appear before the Senate or its committees to answer questions related to their dockets.

The three judges pronounced that the role of county assemblies in oversight was limited and the possibility of a void existed if governors could not be made answerable to the Senate. The governors asked the court to extend the orders it had initially issued to allow them to appeal the ruling.

But the court dismissed the application and directed them to appear before Justice Lenaola on June 29 for further directions.