A governor from the coast yesterday said that members of the Senate allegedly publicly scorned and embarrassed him after he refused to pay a bribe of Sh9 million.

In an escalation of the war between the Council of Governors (CoG) and the Senate, the governor, who sought anonymity, said he was called by a senator demanding the bribe before the hearing session. He said that he has evidence against the Senator who demanded the said bribe.

He said that he was later scorned and embarrassed by ‘four notorious senators’ of the Senate’s County Public Accounts and Investment Committee (CPAIC) during the hearings session. 

“It is not even a bribe. It is pure extortion. I turned down the committee’s demand of Sh9 million, which led them to embarrass me during the session by asking irrelevant questions,” he said.

Claims of bribes have put the Senate’s CPAIC in the spotlight after at least four governors came out publicly to allege that they were asked for money to ensure favourable treatment.

Yesterday, CoG chairman and Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdulahi said that he has written to the Senate speaker, Amason Kingi, seeking an audience over the claims of extortion and harassment. 

Abdulahi said that governors who were asked for bribery have evidence, and they will table the evidence before the speaker of the Senate and his team. 

”The governors who are victims of the extortion in the Senate will table the evidence before the Speaker. For now, we are not naming them because we are giving room for negotiations,” he said. 

Abdulahi said that governors are not running away from their duties, but alleged that the Senate committee had become a circus and a theatre for humiliating the county bosses. 

In addition, he also comes to the defence of auditors at the counties, who he said have come under sharp criticism from the senators for not implicating governors in their reports.

”We have no apology to make for raising the issues of extortion by the Senate Committee. We want to be listened to because we have the right to be listened to,” he said.

The chair further said that the governors unanimously resolved to suspend all their appearances to CPAIC because of the extortion and harassment.

Abdulahi insisted that their continued harassment from the committee must come to an end, and thus, a clear and structured meeting was needed between the council of the Senate’s leadership, even as they clarified that they are not against accountability.

He further said governors are made to wait for a whole day at the Senate and leak some information to the media.

‘My vice chair was made to wait for a whole day at the senate, and when he left, they leaked some information to the media, saying he ran away.

“How do you invite two governors for the same committee and keep one for a whole day, and you are expecting the other one to be seated there for the whole day?” he asked.

In the push for an engagement with the Senate, the CoG singled out four senators whom they say have become notorious for extorting from the governors.

Though they fell short of publicly naming the senators in a press conference, the governors want an open meeting with the Senate, where they say they are ready to give evidence of extortion, including names of those involved in the extortion ring.

Deputy chairman of COG Muthomi Njuki said the committee has been using their platform to do business and wasting taxpayers’ money.

“They have been using that platform to do politics and commit robbery with violence. We have a problem with four senators; they know themselves in the CPAIC committee.

“They are extortionists; they harass governors, they intimidate them, and they even use political manoeuvres of keeping governors there the whole day waiting to be seen without even communicating to them, hoping the governors will give in to their whims,” he said.

“We are saying the senate is a house of noble men; there are other senators who can serve in that committee, and we will not appear in that committee if and until those senators and leadership are changed because they are the ones who are spoiling and making the senate look as if it is a place where serious business is not done but instead political manoeuvres that are underlined with personal interest,” he added.

Nyeri governor Mutahi Kahiga asked political parties involved in the party to replace the committee with new members, adding that they have enough evidence to back up their claims.

“We are ready to sit down with the Senate committee, but we cannot continue like this,” he said.

Kisii Governor Simba Arati said that despite governors bribing the committee, it still goes ahead to embarrass them.

”You cannot eat the governor’s money and turn back and embarrass them. If you are a person with decorum, you eat and keep quiet. There is no reason as to why you should take their money and then embarrass them,” he said.

He said some senators have fashioned themselves as the premier overseers of counties, adding they will not allow the committee to embarrass them.

”We have seen intimidation of the auditors in that committee to incriminate specific governors. We cannot go on like that. We are saying enough is enough. If we have to go back to court to interpret what oversight is, then we are willing to go back to court, but it will not be business as usual,” he added.