A court has stopped the senate from summoning Kiambu Governor William Kabogo and his counterparts from Kisumu and Bomet until a petition they filed before the Supreme Court is heard and determined.
Governors Kabogo, Jack Ranguma (Kisumu) and Isaac Ruto (Bomet) had been summoned by a senate committee to account for the expenditure of funds in their respective counties.
The three county bosses had filed the case to challenge the senate committee decision to freeze allocation of funds to their counties. Murang’a was initially among the affected counties before Governor Mwangi wa Iria appeared before the senators and was removed from the list.
The governors’ lawyer, Ahmednasir Abdullahi, told the court that the senate had no power to summon the governors to answer financial management questions.
“The senate has hijacked the constitutional rights of county assemblies by summoning governors to ask them questions about financial management and they are not accounting officers,” Abdullahi said.
On the issue of freezing of the counties accounts, Abdullahi said that it was illegal and unconstitutional.
“The resolution is illegal and unconstitutional and if the same is adopted, the operations at the counties may stop on account of the said unconstitutional actions of the senate,” added Abdullahi.
Justices Isaac Lenaola, Mumbi Ngugi and George Odunga have already been appointed by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga to hear the petition on September 12.