Governors end Senate boycott after truce over oversight standoff

Governors and senators have closed ranks following weeks of closed-door meetings aimed at resolving a standoff triggered by allegations that some members of the Senate County Public Accounts Committee were engaging in extortion.

Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot said the Senate had reached an agreement with the Council of Governors, paving the way for governors to resume appearances before Senate oversight committees.

According to the Senate leadership, governors have agreed to lift their boycott of appearing before oversight committees, while senators have pledged to consider their push for increased county funding in the next financial year.

Sources who attended the talks told Citizen TV that the deliberations, held within Parliament buildings, were steered by Senate Speaker Amason Kingi alongside Council of Governors chairperson and Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi.

The meetings held on Monday, April 20, 2026, and again on Monday, April 26, are said to have yielded a breakthrough.

Governors reportedly agreed to attend all oversight meetings by the County Public Accounts Committee and the County Public Investments Committee, drop demands for the removal of four senators they had accused of corruption, stop publicly condemning the Senate and respect the House.

On their part, senators agreed to handle extortion claims internally, conduct themselves with decorum during committee sessions, respect governors appearing before them and consider the Division of Revenue Bill, which is expected to allocate more funds to counties in the next financial year.

“Yesterday when we met as a leadership with the CPAC and CPIC, we made it clear to the Council that while we hear what you are saying, withdraw first the demands you had made which require non-appearance before CPAC before the matter is resolved,” Cheruiyot said.

Mandera Senator Ali Roba said the mediation team represented the interests of the Senate.

“I was in that committee of 12. The Deputy Speaker was in that committee. There are 12 members from this House you selected. The interest of this House was represented correctly. The name-calling happened,” he said.

Cheruiyot said governors had agreed to resume appearances before the committees immediately.

“They willingly agreed that they shall appear before those committees as from today. Kajwang was in that meeting, Vihiga senator was in that meeting, therefore I don’t see why we should hold the House hostage,” he added.

Roba apologised to senators for failing to brief the House earlier on the progress of the negotiations.

“We have concluded that in the interest of the Senate, our primary responsibility is to represent the county governments. I would wish to apologise for not having briefed the House on what happened and plead with the Senate that we represented you,” he said.

Council of Governors chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi told Citizen TV that senators must honour the resolutions reached.

In what appeared to be a show of goodwill, senators on Tuesday began debating the Division of Revenue Bill.

The Senate Finance and Budget Committee has recommended an allocation of Ksh.454 billion to counties in the next financial year, up from the current Ksh.415 billion allocation.

Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi noted that the Commission on Revenue Allocation had proposed Ksh.458 billion, while the National Assembly proposed Ksh.420 billion.

During the heated debate, Migori Senator Eddy Oketch was ejected from the House and handed a three-day suspension for disorderly conduct.

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei also raised concerns over what he termed wasteful county spending.

“A governor allocated Ksh.5 million for a housewarming — is that prudent use of resources? In Nandi the governor allocated Ksh.41 million on car hire services, is that prudent use of resources?” he posed.