Governors and senators have ended months of confrontation on county oversight after a closed-door meeting sealed a deal requiring devolved government chiefs to appear before Senate watchdog committees, effectively ending a boycott that had threatened to disrupt funding to the units.
The agreement, reached after high-level talks between Senate leadership and the Council of Governors, paves the way for governors to resume appearances before the County Public Accounts Committee and the County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee, which scrutinise the use of billions of shillings allocated to counties.
Council chairman Ahmed Abdullahi, who led the governors’ delegation, had previously accused senators of extortion, harassment and intimidation but agreed to drop conditions that had informed the boycott, clearing the way for renewed engagement.
Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot on Tuesday told the House that governors had agreed to ease their stance and begin appearing before the committees, insisting there was no longer any basis to delay Senate business, including consideration of the Division of Revenue Bill.
‘We made it clear to the Council of Governors that while we hear the issues they are raising, they must first withdraw the conditions they had set on non-appearance before the committee, and they agreed,’ Mr Cheruiyot told the senators.
He urged senators to proceed with debate on the Division of Revenue Bill, warning that delays could affect efforts to push for increased allocations to counties and potentially stall the budget process.
However, a section of senators rejected the push to proceed, citing lack of consultation and unresolved concerns over the agreement reached with governors.
Laikipia Senator John Kinyua said lawmakers had been kept in the dark about the negotiations and could not be expected to endorse decisions they were not involved in.
‘We will not just be mere followers. As senators, we ought to be involved in the discussions and know what is going on,’ he said.
Nominated Senator Agnes Kavindu said the House should not proceed with the Division of Revenue Bill until senators are formally briefed on the outcome of the talks.
‘We will not allow tabling of the Division of Revenue Bill until we have a meeting as senators to resolve the issues that were raised,’ she said.
The talks brought together Senate leaders led by Speaker Amason Kingi, alongside Deputy Speaker Kathure Murungi, Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot and Minority Leader Stewart Madzayo, while the governors’ team included Abdullahi and his deputy Muthomi Njuki.
The breakthrough follows a prolonged standoff triggered by a boycott in which governors refused to appear before Senate committees, accusing some members of misconduct and turning oversight proceedings into political witch-hunts.
At the height of the dispute, 29 governors failed to honour summons, prompting the Senate to consider coercive measures, including possible arrests, and escalating tensions after an attempted arrest of Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja.
Senators had also explored further measures, including withholding funds and involving investigative agencies such as the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in cases of non-compliance.
Despite earlier resistance, governors dropped their preconditions and agreed to submit to the oversight process, marking a significant climbdown in a dispute that had exposed deep tensions over the limits of Senate authority and the autonomy of county governments.
Under the Constitution, the Senate is mandated to oversee national revenue allocated to counties, including reviewing audit reports and summoning governors to explain expenditure, a role lawmakers insisted could not be compromised.
The impasse disrupted legislative business, including suspension of key revenue-sharing laws such as the Division of Revenue Bill and the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, raising fears of delayed disbursements to counties.