Munya accuses senators of using committee to settle scores ahead of polls
Meru Governor Peter Munya joins Muslim leaders for a meal at Three Stars Hotel in Meru town on July 7, 2016. PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Senate Devolution Committee chair said reports tabled by Public Accounts & Investment Committee revealed massive wastage of funds in counties.
- Mr Munya said the Senate’s oversight role should be exercised in a diligent, objective and transparent manner.
- Mr Munya also called for a fair and transparent recruitment process for the new Chief Justice.
Governors have refuted claims by the Senate that counties cannot account for Sh300 billion allocated to them in the last three years.
Council of Governors chairman Peter Munya accused senators of continuing to use their positions to settle political scores in preparation for the 2017 elections.
Mr Munya said the fact that a majority of senators are eyeing the top county post in 2017 polls was proof enough of the quest by some members to use the County Public Accounts and Investment Committee to gain political gain ahead of next year’s polls.
On Wednesday, the Senate Devolution Committee chairman Prof Wilfred Lesan said reports tabled by the Public Accounts and Investment Committee revealed massive wastage of funds in the devolved units.
But Mr Munya who spoke at a press conference in Meru on Thursday said: “Let us tell which counties have wasted money. Why are they not inviting the EACC to deal with it and take people to court? This is because generalizations do not serve any purpose.”
“There is that attitude at the national level of giving a dog a bad name and then kill it. And the easiest way to kill devolution is to continue shouting that county governments are corrupt without giving facts,” the Meru governor said.
Mr Munya said the Senate’s oversight role should be exercised in a diligent, objective and transparent manner.
“They should not use their role to create profiles for 2017. The senator is one of the most critical of the Bomet governor. Some have been using old reports from the Auditor General that have been corrected. It’s the political season and politicians make strange accusations about others for purposes of attracting attention and votes,” he said.
At the same time, Mr Munya called for a fair and transparent recruitment process for the new Chief Justice.
The county boss said the country has had a history of other arms of the government interfering with the Judiciary and this must stop.
“It must be kept independent of the county and national executive and the legislature to guarantee Kenyans justice. For that to happen, we require a legal mind of impeccable character who has a track record of standing up for the rule of the law, is courageous and does not have a history of being manipulated,” he said.
(Editing by Joel Muinde)
