Kitui Governor Julius Malombe defends choice to appear before Senate

Kitui Governor Julius Malombe speaks at a past event. Mr Malombe will Thursday launch a sanitation project at Kawongo. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • Dr Malombe is among nine governors who had been summoned to appear before the Senate committee
  • He appeared before the committee chaired by Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow on Tuesday last week

Kitui Governor Julius Malombe has defended his decision last week to appear before the Senate committee on Finance, saying, he was ready to account for his actions.

The governor said he exercised his best judgment on the matter and chose to obey the summons because he could not pass the buck in the running of county affairs.

Dr Malombe is among nine governors who had been summoned to appear before the Senate committee to answer to financial concerns raised by the Controller of Budget and Auditor-General.

“I am accountable to the people of Kitui; that’s why I decided to appear before the Senate last week despite my colleagues having sought an advisory opinion on the summons from the courts,” he told the Nation.

Describing himself as a driver of a bus, he said he may not be aware of everything happening in the county, but the high calling of his office required he takes responsibility of all matters especially financial queries.

AUDIT QUERIES

Dr Malombe said he had not broken ranks with fellow governors in the quest for constitutional interpretation, but insisted failure to appear in the absence of a court injunction would be contemptuous and illegal.

He appeared before the committee chaired by Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow on Tuesday last week, accompanied by his county executive for Treasury Simon Mundu and was reportedly cleared of the audit queries raised by Auditor-General.