This archive report was first published on 30 September 2019.
On September 18, 2019, Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua was expected to appear before the Senate Committee on County Public Accounts and Investment to answer audit queries. However, he skipped the meeting and instead sent a letter claiming that Senator Boniface Kabaka had mobilized goons to paint him corrupt.
The committee chair, Moses Kajwang', has since issued a warrant of arrest for Governor Mutua, citing his failure to appear before the committee as an abuse of process and contempt of Parliament.
According to Kajwang', the governor must be ready to answer questions from any senator who has been validly elected or nominated to the house. 'The governor of Machakos must be ready to answer questions from any senator who has been validly elected or nominated to this house,' Kajwang' said.
Notably, this is not the first time a governor has failed to appear before the accounting committee. In the 11th parliament, Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and Kwale's Salim Mvurya were slapped with Sh500,000 and Sh200,000 fines respectively for their absence.
Seeking to keep a lid on governors' habitual trend of snubbing summons, the committee decided to act differently on Mutua by ordering his arrest as authorized in Section 19(3) of the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act.
