Samburu Governor Lati Lelelit faces severe sanctions, including a call for his arrest for snubbing senators for a record four times.
The governor has failed to honour the Senate Public Accounts Committee's invites and summonses since last year, to answer audit queries – drawing the ire of the senators.
“We have invited and summoned the Governor on several occasions from last year. But he has failed to appear before the committee to answer to audit queries," said committee chair and Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang.
On Monday, Mr Lelelit failed to honour a summons that was issued weeks ago. He had failed to honour a previous one.
He failed to appear before the Senate committee to answer audit queries, but was reportedly present at the National Governing Council (NGC) meeting of the United Democratic Alliance(UDA) party at State House, Nairobi.
President William Ruto and Samburu Governor Jonathan Lati Lelelit during the Maa Cultural Festival at Archer’s Post in Samburu County on November 8, 2024.
Photo credit: PCS
The no-show has sparked outrage in the committee, which swiftly shifted its fire from the elusive governor to the Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, accusing him of shielding the county boss and turning its constitutional oversight mandate into a game of hide-and-seek.
Mr Kajwang’ accused the Inspector-General of ignoring lawful directives from the Senate and undermining the authority of Parliament.
"We had earlier in December asked the Inspector General of Police to arrest Governor Lelelit, but he is yet to do so to date. We asked the Inspector General of Police to find, arrest and produce the Governor before this committee," stated Mr Kajwang.
The Office of the Inspector General later wrote asking for more time to trace the Samburu County boss.
Mr Lelelit’s presence at State House on Monday drew reactions, with senators questioning why the IG has not arrested him.
"The Inspector General of Police should appear before this committee within the next seven days to explain why he is unwilling to implement the resolutions of Parliament,” Senator Kajwang’ said.
“If the IG does not know how the Governor of Samburu looks like, we can forgive him [sic]. If he does not know where State House is, we can also forgive him. But we all know exactly where he is. How can the IG say he cannot find him?” Mr Sifuna posed.
"We cannot enforce accountability if the IG cannot honour resolutions of Parliament. How can the police say they cannot locate a governor who is sitting at State House. We are being taken for granted,” he added.
Kitui Senator Enock Wambua observed that events over the past few weeks suggest that both the governor and the Inspector General were working in cahoots to frustrate the committee. He urged senators to focus their efforts on holding the IG accountable.
“These are the usual games being played by both the Governor and the IG to frustrate the Senate. Maybe the IG knows he is about to leave office, so he is passing the problem to the next person,” he said.
Samburu Senator Steve Lelegwe, a member of the committee, also confirmed that the governor was indeed at the State House political meeting.
“I left the governor at State House seated next to Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika. He is not ready and does not respect Parliament,” Lellegwe said.
“This is not even a Cabinet meeting. It is a political party meeting and I don’t know any serious party that would be offended if you said you must first attend Parliament,” Senator Sifuna said.
The governor is required to appear before the committee to account for billions of shillings allocated to Samburu County during the 2023/24 financial year.
Previous no-shows prompted the committee to fine him Sh500,000 and order him to appear on December 4, 2025. After the governor failed to honour the summons, the committee wrote to the Inspector General on December 9, 2025 directing him to locate, arrest, and produce the governor before CPAC on December 18.
However, in a letter dated December 18, the Inspector General informed the committee that he had been unable to establish the governor’s whereabouts and therefore could not effect the arrest.
In response, the committee instructed the police boss to investigate the governor’s whereabouts and produce him before CPAC on January 26, 2026. The Inspector General neither responded to the letter nor presented the governor as directed.
In a twist, Mr Lelelit later wrote to the committee explaining that he was unable to attend the meeting because he was scheduled to attend the UDA meeting at State House, Nairobi, chaired by President William Ruto.
Chairperson Senate County Public Accounts Committee Senator Moses Kajwang' during a session at the Bunge Tower, Nairobi.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
However, Senator Kajwang’ dismissed the explanations given by both Mr Kanja and the governor, saying the letters could not purge the contempt proceedings facing the governor.
Members of the committee accused the Inspector General of undermining the oath of his office by failing to facilitate Parliament to execute its oversight mandate.
Officials from the Office of the Auditor-General told the committee that Samburu County had not responded to audit recommendations for both the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 financial years, even after the reports were formally submitted and tabled in parliament.
“The management has not given any updates on implementation of recommendations for both years,” the office of the auditor general stated.
Senators also floated the idea of invoking constitutional provisions to block funds to counties in persistent breach, warning that oversight without enforcement had turned parliament into a debating club.
“If we cannot talk about how money is spent, then we have no business sending more money there,” Mr Sifuna said.
