- Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka has alleged that corruption is ruling Senate committees, with governors giving senators millions to quell audit questions
- He admitted to receiving small offers of money but claimed he never complied with the governors’ demands, revealing secret meetings in hotels and parking lots to discuss mlungula.
- The Council of Governors had accused some senators of greed and injustice
Kisii Senator, Richard Onyonka, has claimed that corruption has dominated Senate committees where county governors appear to answer audit questions.
Source: Twitter
Speaking in a radio interview on Friday morning, Onyonka admitted that some senators are benefiting from the generosity of governors who want the committee to remain silent on issues of waste of public resources.
He claimed that senators are lured with up to KSh 10 million to support governors in audit reports
“Governors have been paying senators not to sue them. When the governor steals from the audit books, the Auditor General says you have stolen KSh 120 million. There is a level that the governor starts giving even before you analyze the books. It can be from KSh 2 million to KSh 10 million. It depends because they don’t want us to say what they did,” he said.
Onyonka added that governors meet with senators in private areas to discuss before appearing before the committee.
On his part, he said he had been given hundreds of thousands of shillings, which he would have received but he never acted according to the wishes of the governor in question.
“We have evidence where these governors have been making offers about the amount they can give. They call some people, tell them to meet them. Some meet in basements, others in their hotels. If you have not done anything wrong, why give me money? If I have not worked for you, if I did not demand anything from you, why give me money?” questioned Onyonka.
His statements come while the Council of Governors (CoG) are complaining about some senators allegedly involved in financial fraud and abuse.
Most prominent is the Senate Committee on County Public Accounts, chaired by Homa Bay senator, Moses Kajwang.
The governors named several senior members of the committee claiming to be involved in alleged fraud, including Kajwang, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, Samson Cherargei of Nandi, and Johnes Mwaruma of Taita Taveta.
The four were accused of allegedly perpetrating harassment, threats, political searches and fraud against the governors during questioning before the committee.
The governors vowed to boycott the summons of the committee until the issues raised against its members are addressed, calling for their removal from the committee to restore trust, integrity and fairness in the oversight role.
While stressing their commitment to responsibility and efficient use of public resources, the governors explained that oversight should be legal, ethical and without abuse of power, and they called for a dialogue organized by the leadership of the Senate to end the tension.
Meanwhile, Sifuna said she will sue the CoG for defamation.
He said his record is known and he has never, at any time during his time in the Senate, asked or charged the governor or any public servant money for audit questions.
Sifuna explained that the allegations are defaming his name, and he will seek justice through the courts.
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