Kingi faults governors for ignoring Senate reports on corruption
National
By
Edwin Nyarangi
| Oct 08, 2025
Senate Speaker Amason Kingin arrives for Senate Mashinani sitting in Busia County Assembly, on October 7, 2025. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]
Senate Speaker Amason Kingi has blamed governors for their reluctance to implement Senate resolutions aimed at curbing mismanagement and embezzlement of county funds.
Kingi dismissed claims of bad blood between Senate leadership and governors over the oversight of county finances, emphasising that the Senate’s role is solely to ensure accountability in the use of public resources.
Speaking during a meeting between the Senate leadership and the Busia County Executive led by Governor Paul Otuoma, Kingi expressed concern that several Senate committee reports containing recommendations to streamline county operations are gathering dust in governors’ offices.
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“It is a matter of great concern that you find the Senate has made several key recommendations to county administrations, yet two or three years down the line, nothing happens. This raises many questions,” said Kingi.
He was speaking at the start of the week-long Senate Mashinani sessions in Busia county, where all 67 senators have convened for plenary and committee sittings outside the House’s traditional setting.
Kingi noted that the Senate watchdog committees — the County Public Accounts Committee and the County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee — have issued recommendations urging governors to take disciplinary action against officers implicated in financial irregularities.
The Speaker noted that the committees’ reports often cite officers for errors, omissions or incompetence lead to breaches of the law and potential loss of public funds. The reports typically recommend disciplinary action, surcharges and investigations by the EACC and DCI.
“For instance, in a 2021 report, the Senate Public Accounts Committee recommended action against accounting officers in several counties accused of gross financial mismanagement, yet very little has been done so far,” said Kingi.
The report exposed poor record-keeping, weak budget controls and failure by some officers to submit financial statements for audit — ostensibly to conceal irregularities. It cited wide spread illegalities, including flawed procurement and payments and payment for stalled or incomplete multi-million-shilling projects, as well as the accumulation of pending bills.
Otuoma cited delays in the disbursement of funds, disputes over functions, frequent industrial actions and outdated pre-devolution laws as some of the challenges impending devolution.