Nairobi — Senators are considering recommending the suspension of transfers from the National Treasury to counties that repeatedly fail to account for public funds or ignore summons by Senate committees, in a move that could significantly tighten oversight of county governments.
The proposal emerged during a heated sitting of the Senate Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC), where members expressed frustration over what they termed as growing defiance by some governors and county officials who fail to appear before oversight committees despite repeated summons.
Isiolo Governor Abdi Guyo, Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir and Samburu Governor Lati Lelelit were accused of treating parliamentary oversight with contempt, noting that fines and arrest warrants have failed to compel compliance within statutory timelines for the consideration of audit reports.
"We summon them, they refuse to appear, we fine them, they pay, and still they do not cooperate. By the time our timelines lapse, there is nothing we can report to the House," committee chairman Moses Kajwang stated.
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Senators cited cases where county officials have paid fines for contempt of Parliament but continued to skip appearances, effectively running out the clock on the audit review process and frustrating accountability efforts.
Attention was drawn to counties described as having persistent accountability challenges, where unresolved audit queries span several financial years and service delivery has continued to deteriorate.
Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo cited the Isiolo County where more than 14 health workers were allegedly laid off amid governance disputes, while concerns were also raised over irregular recruitment of nurses without proper advertising, shortlisting or interviews.
She questioned why Governor Guyo has failed to appear to respond to audit queries in two subsequent financial years despite the grave management concerns in the county.
"This is a county where people are suffering. There is no service delivery, and the leadership does not want to be accountable," the senator said.
Senator Dullo accused the governor of avoiding Senate oversight while sending junior officials to write apology letters citing insecurity or official engagements.
During the session, lawmakers explored whether the Senate could, through a House resolution, recommend to the National Treasury and the Controller of Budget to temporarily stop disbursement of funds to non-compliant counties until they appear before oversight committees and respond to audit queries.
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According to the law Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury can halt transfers for up to 30 days, any longer suspension would require approval of both Houses of Parliament, raising questions about the speed and practicality of such sanctions.
Senator Kajwang argued that the Senate should use its committee reports to formally recommend stoppage of funds to counties that fail to account, rather than wait for prolonged processes that allow officials to evade scrutiny.
"If a county refuses to account, let that be clearly stated in our report, and let funds be withheld until they comply. That is the only language some of them will understand," he said.
The committee resolved to issue fresh summons to defiant county governments, warning that failure to comply would trigger stronger action, including formal recommendations to the House on financial sanctions.
Senators said they were determined to restore the authority of Parliament in overseeing county expenditure, warning that continued tolerance of defiance would render oversight institutions ineffective.
"Our role is to protect the people in the counties. If we allow leaders to ignore accountability, then we are failing in that responsibility,"Nyamira Senator Okongo Omogeni stated.
