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Senate watchdog orders arrest of Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya

oparanya

Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya. FILE PHOTO | NMG

A Senate committee has issued a warrant for the arrest of Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya for his refusal to honour summonses to answer audit queries.

The queries arise from the revenue and expenditure account of the county for year 2014/15.

The warrant was issued by the Public Accounts and Investments Committee (PAIC) on Thursday after a consultative meeting with independent commissions, including the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the electoral commission and the office of the Attorney-General.

Mr Oparanya has filed a case in court challenging the powers of the committee to summon governors.

No order

However, the Parliamentary legal team told the committee that even though the matter is in court, the judge did not issue orders stopping the Senate from summoning the governor.                       

"There is no order stopping the Senate from summoning the governor," PAIC Chairman Anyang’ Nyong’o (Kisumu, ODM) said.

The warrant was issued pursuant to Article 125 of the Constitution which gives parliamentary committees powers similar to those of the High Court.                       

The warrant will be prepared by the Clerk of the Senate and signed by Prof Nyong’o in his capacity as the chair.

It will then be presented to the Inspector-General of Police and Director of Public Prosecutions for action— being presented to the committee to answer the audit queries and, if necessary, dragged to court to face criminal charges.

The committee is also planning to write to Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to bar Mr Oparanya from the ballot for failing to account for funds allocated to the county.