There was a storm in the Senate following a truce reached between the House leadership and the Council of Governors on Monday, with most Senators raising concerns that they were kept in the dark.

Most senators were irked when the Senate Majority Leader, Aaron Cheruiyot, brought up the matter while urging members to support the Division of Revenue Bill that seeks to have Counties get additional funds in this financial year.

Cheruiyot, while speaking on the floor of the house, said that the matter was now behind them after they house leadership and the Council of Governors held a series of meetings, something that irked Senators who accused the leadership of keeping them in the dark.

The Senate Majority Leader said that they have been holding meetings with the Council of Governors for the last two weeks, in which they agreed that Governors should resume appearances before the Senate Committees whenever called upon.

“I have been categorical that it was wrong for the Council of Governors to declare that Governors are going to boycott appearances before some Senate Committees; we have engaged them, and they have agreed to rescind their decision,” said Cheruiyot.

The Senate Majority Leader told the House that during last Thursday afternoon’s session, they promised that the House leadership would seek ways of ending the stalemate with the Council of Governors through engagement to safeguard devolution.

Cheruiyot said that they had certain demands that they wanted COG to meet before they could have any engagement with representation from both Senate County Public Accounts and Senate County Public Investment and Special Funds Committees, well represented.

The Majority Leader said that during their engagement with the Council of Governors, the Governors agreed to drop their boycott to appear before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee, which was the first condition by the Senate for the talks to proceed.

“The approval of the Division of Revenue Bill is very important for the counties to run smoothly. Currently, we have a recommendation from the National Assembly for them to get Sh420 billion, while we need to push that amount to at least Sh450 billion by being ready to move to the mediation stage with our sister house, ” said Cheruiyot.

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna faulted the house leadership for not informing the entire Senate of the engagement and that it was wrong to ambush them on the floor over the agreement without even holding a Kamukunji to let members be aware of what was agreed on.

Sifuna said that the Council of Governors had defamed some members of the house and that if they had called a press conference to announce their climb down over their earlier stance and issued an apology to the affected members, the situation could be different in the house.

“It should be remembered that the Council of Governors had gone ahead to hold a press conference where some Senators were mentioned adversely without any tangible evidence; they should have used the same channel to apologise and rescind their earlier decision, ” said Sifuna.

Migori Senator Eddy Oketch said that it was wrong for the entire Senate to be kept in the dark over such a serious matter, bearing in mind that the Council of Governors portrayed the entire Senate negatively, yet it was exercising its constitutional mandate of oversight of public funds.

Oketch said that members made a decision as a house and that the matter should be addressed in a collegiate way before the Division of Revenue Bill was introduced, and that it was wrong for Cheruiyot to try to explain to the house on the agreement while introducing the Bill.

“We should be informed as a house about the deliberations of the Senate Leadership and the Council of Governors, you cannot explain to us while moving this Bill since this is disrespect to us, we should have a Kamukunji to be informed of what happened first, ” said Oketch.

Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu demanded that the Speaker adjourn the house and allow a Kamukunji to discuss the change of tact by Governors, since most Senators had been caught unawares, yet that should not have been the case since they unanimously made a decision.

Kavindu said that if they decide on the house, they should all be involved whenever there is a change of position, and without a Kamukunji to be informed what happened, they will all walk out of the house in protest for being taken for a ride.

Laikipia Senator John Kinyua said that the Senators had made a decision as the house over the Council of Governors and that the Senators were not happy they had not been involved in the change of tact by the house leadership without their input.

Mandera Senator Ali Roba acknowledged that 12 Senators sat with Governors on behalf of the Senate, explaining to his colleagues that the team effectively represented the entire house, with Senate Deputy Speaker among those present from the Senate side.

“On behalf of the 12 Senators, I would like to apologise to the house for not having adequately informed the members on the deliberations. I would like to assure all the 67 Senators that their interests were well articulated during the meeting, ” said Roba.

Senate Deputy Speaker Kathuri Murungi admitted that there was an oversight on the team that met the Council of Governors, stating that it was important for the house to get the resolution of the meeting, which will convince members that their interests were well represented.

Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo told the house that, as a member of the House Business Committee, the dispute between the Senate and the Council of Governors came up several times and supported calls for a Kamukunji for all members to be adequately informed of what transpired.

The Senate Speaker, Amason Kingi, bowed to Senators’ pressure and adjourned the house for 15 minutes to allow members to discuss the matter following concerns of the house being kept in the dark over the agreement with the Council of Governors.

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