Senators seek powers to arrest officials who snub summons » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 23 – Defiant witnesses including Governors and Cabinet Secretaries who are summoned by the Senate and fail to appear will no longer reign with impunity if an amendment to the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act sails through.

In the proposed amendment to the Act, Senators want the House Speaker to be bestowed with powers to enforce the arrest of persons who fail to honor the summons of a Committee or the House.

The consideration follows an outcry by a section of Senators who have decried challenges in enforcement of the current provision.

According to Section 27 of the Act, Parliament has the authority to fine defiant witnesses Sh500,000 or order the Inspector General of Police to arrest them and present them before the House of respective committee for questioning.

“Senators are working on coming up with different amendments to the Act especially one that touches on the powers that are granted to the House on dealing with noncompliant witnesses,” Senate Director of Legal Services John Omollo divulged.

The Act is normally invoked when a witness is invited to appear before a Committee of the House and fails and similarly ignores resultant summons.

Whereas the imposition of the Sh500,000 million fine is easily compiled to by the defiant witnesses, the challenge has always been enforcing arrests with Senators blaming the Inspector General of Police for failing to execute arrests.

“The fine is usually paid very fast but as to the question as to whether the money is from their pockets or it is government money is not well known,” Omollo said.

The Senate which has over the years been accused of being a talking show House, often issuing out threats to censure witnesses, fine or even direct for their arrests after they fail to honor the invites or summons, is now keen to turn a new page with the view of being taken seriously.

The Senate Road and Transport Committee had in October directed the Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai to arrest Bomet Governor Hillary Barchok over the use of Sh17 billion Road Maintenance Levy Fund after he failed to honor an invitation and the subsequent summons.

Mutyambai is however, to date, yet to enforce Governor Barchok’s arrest.

In September 2020, the Senate County Public Accounts and Investments Committee directed Mutyambai to arrest Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria before the Committee after he failed to honor the Committee’s invite and summons. That too did not materialize.

The governor had been summoned to explain queries raised by the Auditor General on the financial operations for three financial years-2015/2016, 2016/2017 and 2017/2018.

The second-term Governor later moved to court and obtained conservatory orders blocking his arrest.

A section of Governors and Cabinet Secretaries are notorious in skipping sessions with Senate Committees with some even failing to send representatives to appear on their behalf.

The court in November 2021, stopped the Senate from summoning Governors to answer to audit queries after the latter, through the Council of Governors, moved to court to seeking an injunction.

In their defense, the Governors argued that a majority of the Senators were on a with-hunt mission in a bid to humiliate and embarrass them so as to further their political agenda.