State accounting officers might be compelled to honour parliamentary summons going forward, it now appears.
This follows a threat by the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC), that it will henceforth take stern punitive measures against individuals ignoring its summons.
According to the committee Chair Opiyo Wandayi, officers who fail to appear before the committee when summoned for grilling over audit queries will be compelled to do that.
He sounded a similar warning to top state officials, including Principal Secretaries, whom he said have been hiding behind their 'tight schedules' to evade appearing before the team.
“All accounting officers must appear before PAC when invited. Being engaged in one’s daily work cannot be a valid reason to skip a committee meeting,” he told the People Daily on Wednesday.
The warning came only hours after State Comptroller Kinuthia Mbugua pulled a similar stunt claiming to have been busy with other issues.
The former Nakuru Governor was set to appear before the committee earlier in the week to defend the State House Budget.
However, he wrote to National Assembly Clerk Michael Sialai to excuse himself on grounds that he was busy in his capacity as the State House controller.
Wandayi, also the Ugunja lawmaker said that Mbugua will have to appear before the committee in three weeks time to shed light on the budget for the year that ended on June 30, 2016.