Kenya Supreme Court Rules Senate Has Powers to Summon Governors over County Revenue

The Supreme Court has declared that the Senate has constitutional powers to summon and question governors on the expenditure of county governments.

The apex court dismissed an argument by the Council of Governors that only county assemblies have the power to perform financial oversight over counties and that only the County Executive Committee or heads of county finance qualify to appear before the Senate to answer expenditure-related queries.

The five-judge bench led by Chief Justice Martha Koome further ruled that the Senate has jurisdiction to monitor all revenue generated by counties and not just funds allocated to by Treasury.

“By the same token, if the Senate is of the view that the questions to be answered or information to be provided do not need the personal input of the Governor, it may restrict its summons to the relevant County official or Executive Committee,” the court ruled on Friday.

The judges concluded that the Senate cannot be able to perform its oversight role optimally if it lacks the powers to summon governors.

“There is no way by which the Senate can perform its oversight role of ensuring proper usage of public resources in the counties without having the powers to summon a governor to provide answers regarding the management of county finances and related affairs,” ruled the Supreme Court.

“Without such power, the Senate would not be able to protect the interests of the counties, nor would it be able to exercise effective oversight role over national revenue allocated to counties.”

The court directed that governors must avail themselves in person should they be summoned by the Senate.

“The governors must appear in person when summoned by the Senate. However, when appearing before the senators, there is nothing that stops them from going with a technical team from the County Executive to help in providing the required information,” the judges ruled.