Extortion: The Big Scandal In Senate And Why Governors Are Shunning Their Summons

The war between Kenya’s 47 county bosses and the Senate has exploded into a full-blown constitutional crisis, with governors hurling explosive allegations of extortion, blackmail and political witch-hunts against senators entrusted with guarding public coffers.

In a dramatic showdown that threatens to paralyze one of Parliament’s core constitutional functions, governors have declared they will no longer honor summonses from the Senate County Public Accounts Committee until what they describe as “four notorious extortionists” are kicked out.

The allegations are staggering in their brazenness. During a tense two-day retreat in Kilifi County this week, more than 30 governors traded horror stories of being shaken down by senators for millions of shillings in exchange for favorable audit reports.

One coastal governor revealed he was asked to cough up Sh9 million. Another from Nyanza spoke of a Sh12 million demand. A county boss from the northeast painted a chilling picture of relentless harassment, with CPAC senators repeatedly squeezing his executives for cash.

“Enough is enough,” Council of Governors chairman Ahmed Abdullahi thundered at a Monday press briefing. “Some CPAC members have been demanding bribes from governors and county officials in exchange for clearing audit queries. If we have to go back to court to seek interpretation of what oversight entails, we will.”

The scandal has revived painful memories of the 2015 National Assembly Public Accounts Committee bribery firestorm that forced its reconstitution, raising uncomfortable questions about whether Parliament’s oversight machinery has become a racket for personal enrichment rather than a bulwark against corruption.

For months now, governors have been playing cat and mouse with Senate watchdogs. On Monday alone, seven county chiefs failed to show up for scheduled grillings before two committees, choosing instead to fly to Kilifi for what they euphemistically called a “strategic retreat.”

Nandi Governor Stephen Sang and Siaya’s James Orengo snubbed the CPAC chaired by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang. Five others, Laikipia’s Joshua Irungu, Tharaka Nithi’s Muthomi Njuki, Murang’a’s Irungu Kang’ata, Lamu’s Issa Timamy and Embu’s Cecily Mbarire, gave the slip to the County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee led by Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi.

Their coordinated defiance paralyzed both committees, which are racing against a court-imposed March 31 deadline to review Auditor General Nancy Gathungu’s damning reports for the 2024/25 financial year. The reports have laid bare a cesspool of corruption in counties, from stalled projects and ballooning debt to questionable spending that has left billions of shillings unaccounted for.

The Kilifi meeting itself was anything but cordial. Sources described it as heated and tense, with governors venting fury over what they claim is systematic extortion masquerading as oversight.

Tharaka Nithi’s Njuki did not mince his words. “There are many other senators who can sit on this committee. Four committee members are notorious for blackmail and extortion,” he said. “Their personal interests and political maneuvers are giving the Senate a bad name, yet this is supposed to be a House of noble men and women.”

The governors, however, have refused to name the four senators publicly, saying only that “they know themselves.” This has allowed the accused to deny the allegations without being forced to defend themselves individually, creating a murky standoff where accusations fly but accountability remains elusive.

But CPAC chair Kajwang has fired back with both barrels, rejecting the corruption claims as a smokescreen to evade scrutiny. He accused governors of attempting to choose their own judges and dictate the terms of their own accountability.

“I have never witnessed a situation in which suspects demand to empanel the bench,” the Homa Bay senator said acidly. “We welcome the governors to submit any evidence of extortion and harassment to the relevant institutions. Accountability is not a favor to the Senate; it is a duty to the public.”

He reminded governors that Articles 229 and 125 of the Constitution give the Senate sweeping powers to review Auditor General reports and summon anyone to give evidence. “This is exactly what the Senate has been doing,” he said.

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, a CPAC member, accused governors of “prioritizing leisure” over accountability. He savaged the Kilifi retreat as a constitutional non-obligation, arguing the money could have gone to drought relief or helping students unable to advance to Grade 10.

“It is very unfortunate that governors have called an urgent meeting not to discuss the problems counties face or to account for billions of shillings sent to them, but to discuss the Senate because they say we have been hard on them,” Cherargei said. “Most of the governors running away from accountability are accused of corruption. The guilty are always afraid.”

The constitutional chess match playing out is complicated by a High Court ruling from October 2024 that barred Parliament and County Assemblies from considering audit reports more than three months after tabling. The ruling has created a ticking clock that governors appear to be exploiting, playing delay tactics while the Senate scrambles to meet its deadline.

Since that ruling, governors and senators have been locked in a bitter war of words, with county bosses citing prior appointments, sudden illnesses and now collective boycotts to avoid facing the music.

Last month, Kajwang noted with frustration that some governors were content paying the Sh500,000 fine imposed for skipping summonses, while also blaming the police for failing to arrest defiant governors.

Six county chiefs, Isiolo’s Abdi Guyo, Mombasa’s Abdulswamad Nassir, Samburu’s Lati Lelelit, Kisii’s Simba Arati, Kilifi’s Gideon Mung’aro and Kakamega’s Fernandes Barasa, now risk arrest for repeated failures to appear.

Senators have even threatened to summon the Inspector General of Police to explain how a governor can evade arrest while traveling freely across the country. “The excuse that the IG is unable to find the governor is not convincing,” Nyamira Senator Okong’o Omogeni said. “We also need to summon the IG as he is in contempt of Parliament.”

The standoff carries echoes of previous parliamentary bribery scandals that have stained Kenya’s legislative history. In 2015, the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee was engulfed in similar allegations that led to its reconstitution. More recently, President William Ruto accused MPs of demanding bribes from the executive, governors and cabinet secretaries, claims that sent shockwaves through Parliament.

Legal and constitutional experts warn the current crisis could escalate into a constitutional showdown between the Senate’s oversight powers and governors’ management of county resources. The Constitution grants the Senate the power to summon public officials, but governors argue that power is being abused for personal enrichment.

Section 18 of the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act gives Parliament the same powers as the High Court, including authority to order arrests of those who fail to honor summonses. But governors appear willing to call that bluff, betting that the political costs of arresting elected county chiefs might outweigh the Senate’s determination to enforce its authority.

Abdullahi insisted the Council of Governors remains committed to accountability but said oversight must be conducted “lawfully, ethically and without abuse of office.”

“This is not about avoiding oversight. It is about ensuring that oversight is conducted in a professional, respectful and constitutional manner,” he said.

But the Senate is having none of it. Nominated Senator Raphael Chimera proposed punitive action, including withholding county funds until governors appear before committees. The suggestion highlights just how high the stakes have become in a standoff that pits devolution against centralized oversight.

For ordinary Kenyans watching this drama unfold, the spectacle is deeply troubling. Audit reports have revealed counties squandering billions on ghost workers, inflated contracts and questionable projects. The Auditor General has flagged countless irregularities that demand answers.

Yet instead of governors rushing to clear their names, they are accusing their accusers of corruption, creating a hall of mirrors where everyone is corrupt and no one is accountable.

Observers note the cruel irony: counties were created to bring services closer to the people and reduce the corruption that plagued centralized government. Instead, devolution has spawned 47 new corruption ecosystems, each with its own cast of untouchable political elites.

The bribery allegations, if true, would represent a spectacular failure of the Senate’s constitutional role. But if false, they would represent an equally spectacular attempt by governors to delegitimize oversight and escape accountability for their stewardship of public resources.

The truth likely lies somewhere in the murky middle, in a political culture where both sides are compromised, where money talks louder than the Constitution, and where the public interest always comes last.

As the March 31 deadline looms, the Senate and the governors appear locked in a game of chicken. Neither side shows signs of blinking. The losers, as always, are the Kenyan people, who watch helplessly as their leaders bicker over billions while hospitals lack medicine, schools crumble and services collapse.

The Senate has the constitutional power to compel appearances. Governors have the political muscle to resist. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has the mandate to investigate the bribery claims. The Director of Public Prosecutions has the authority to prosecute.

But in Kenya’s political theater, power without will is meaningless. Unless someone blinks, this standoff will drag on, audit queries will go unanswered, corruption will flourish unchecked, and the grand promise of devolution will continue its slow death by a thousand cuts.

The governors say they will meet Senate leadership for “structured engagement” to resolve the crisis. But without naming names, providing evidence, or agreeing to appear before committees, such engagement looks like yet another delaying tactic in a game where time is running out.

For now, the silence from the four unnamed senators is deafening. They have not stepped forward to clear their names. They have not sued for defamation. They have not demanded an investigation to prove their innocence. Their silence speaks volumes about a political class that has learned to live comfortably with corruption allegations, knowing that in Kenya, accusations fade but power endures.

The Senate clerk has issued a public notice warning that governors can no longer arbitrarily postpone appearances. But the governors have called that bluff, declaring they simply will not show up until their demands are met.

And so the stalemate continues, a perfect metaphor for Kenya’s broken accountability systems, where the watchdogs are accused of being thieves, the thieves claim to be victims, and the people, as always, pay the price.