Governors reject Senate bid to have them vetted

The Senate has opened a new battle front with governors after its Public Accounts Committee proposed that aspirants for county boss positions should obtain compliance certificates before they contest in next elections.

The proposal was immediately opposed by governors, who argued that the house was coming up with rules that would favour senators while making it difficult for governors to seek re-election.

The Senate Public Accounts Committee has suggested that gubernatorial candidates should obtain certificates from the electoral commission, the Auditor-General’s office, the Controller of Budget and Commission on Revenue Allocation before contesting.

Council of Governors chairman Peter Munya described the proposed law as discriminatory.

He said it could not be allowed in a “democracy that is guided by a Constitution”.

Mr Munya, who is also the Meru governor, argued that the office of governor was under attack from senators, and questioned why they did not include the President, MPs and MCAs in the proposal as they were also in charge of public funds.

“Why governor? Why not President if the proposal is about leaders who are in charge of public funds and affairs? Why not MPs? Why not MCAs? Why should the requirement be discriminatory? They are singling out people who want to be governors,” he said on the phone.

Governors Cornel Rasanga (Siaya), Paul Chepkwony (Kericho), Jack Ranguma (Kisumu) and Isaac Ruto (Bomet) said the proposal was a scheme to lock them out of political office.

“This requirement is retrogressive and untenable. How can one come up with a proposal with the aim of favouring oneself? This is like a case of a football team manager refereeing when his team is playing,” said Mr Rasanga.

In the proposal, the Senate PAC argued that some governors were misusing public resources and must be cleared before seeking re-election.