Kericho Governor Erick Mutai, a two-time survivor of impeachment, has once again snubbed a scheduled appearance before a Senate audit committee.
Mutai was expected to appear before the Moses Kajwang’-led County Public Accounts Committee but failed to show up. His Isiolo counterpart, Governor Abdi Guyo, who also survived an impeachment attempt, similarly skipped the session.
According to the Senate Committee clerk, the Kericho County Executive sent a letter via email on November 21, 2025, a move the committee chairperson, Moses Kajwang', termed as contempt of Parliament, noting that witnesses are required to communicate at least seven days prior to a scheduled meeting.
Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua demanded firm action against the governors.
"Governor Erick Mutai must stand summoned to appear before this committee within the shortest time possible," he said.
He added, " This should serve as an example to him, and to other governors who are intent on taking that part. Going forward, we must not entertain this thing of governors ' last-minute to seek postponement."
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei expressed his frustration, questioning why some governors appear fearful of facing Senate committees calling for stricter penalties.
"We must be very serious on this one, I propose apart from the Kericho Governor appearing by and all the witnesses summonses, we must also fine him to reimburse the resources used by the office of the Auditor General."
He further insisted, "The Governor must appear via summonses in the next week. If he fails to appear, the Inspector General of Police must frog match him before the committee, and we must get him."
In the case of Isiolo County, Governor Abdi Guyo also failed to appear, only sending a letter on November 18, 2025, three days before the meeting, contrary to Senate Standing Orders.
Part of the letter from the Isiolo County Executive read, "We regret to inform you that the Governor will not be available on the scheduled date due to unavoidable commitment. In light of this, we kindly request the committee consider us in rescheduling the meeting to a later date to allow the Governor to appear in person as required."
Committee Chairperson and Homa-Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’ condemned the conduct of the two governors, calling the responses contemptuous.
Kajwang’ notes, "This is another contemptuous response which falls in the same category of issues members canvass."
He ruled that the behavior of both county executives violated constitutional obligations of leadership and accountability.
"We have found that the conduct of the two governors and the two county executives is contemptuous and in violation of the responsibilities of leadership that have been spelled out in Article 73, it calls for honesty in execution of public duties," he said.
Kajwang’ explained the critical role of governors appearing before Senate committees, especially following impeachment proceedings.
"In fact, in every motion of impeachment, whether a governor is saved or a governor is sent home, there is usually a recommendation that relevant committees of the Senate should move into the county to find out the true status of things… so we shall not tire, we shall do this exercise because it's required in law but also the resolutions that the houses have made in the impeachment proceedings."
Committee Vice Chairperson Johnes Mwaruma echoed concerns from other MPs, noting that several entities have also failed to address issues raised against them.
The Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) further raised concerns about Isiolo County’s delayed and incomplete submission of documents required to verify responses to audit queries.
According to the OAG: "Isiolo entity provided the responses to the report of the auditor general for 2023/24 on 14th of Nov, 2025, without the supporting evidence… They brought some evidence on the 17th and 18th, while others were submitted one day later. We have not done the verification for the projects indicated by the auditor general's reports."
