The storm over the fraudulent airlift saga in Uasin Gishu County more than ever reinforces the urgency of the now repeated attempts to bar governors from contesting for the Senate immediately their term ends.
It has now come to light that parents were duped by officials in Uasin Gishu to pay hundreds of millions of shillings for scholarships for university education in Finland and Canada. Most of that money was stolen.

It is taking forever to unravel what happened, and get accountability. Bottom line is that this issue will most probably end up before the Senate for investigation.

And this is the crux of the matter. This saga took place when Jackson Mandago was governor of Uasin Gishu. After his two terms ended, Mandago shifted his attention to the Senate seat which he contested and won. He now sits in the Senate as senator of the very county for which he was governor.
When this matter finally lands before the Senate, Mandago will be seating in judgement over himself! Something is awry here.

The point is that all investigations that will land before the Senate after a governor completes his or her term are those that directly involve his or her tenure of office. If that governor has then switched sides and made his or her way into the Senate, it is very easy for him or her to derail investigations in the Senate by leveraging their influence among their colleagues.

For good governance in the counties, this anomaly requires to be corrected forthwith. And that is why the proposed Bill by Nominated Senator Raphael Chimera, seeking to bar governors who have completed their terms from being eligible to vie as a senator or MP for five years needs to go all the way until it receives Presidential Assent.

Senator Chimera argues, correctly, that this period will enable accountability processes that will be undertaken immediately a governor leaves office about their tenure to progress without interference. This Bill is a recognition that the governor who now moves to the Senate immediately he or she leaves office has a lot of capacity to interfere with those investigations.

The Senator notes, further, that in the event that those investigations into the former governor’s tenure found him or her unfit for office, then their constituents will have a reference point about their suitability for office when they offer themselves for election.

This is the second time that such a Bill is being presented to the Senate with the very same objective. Former Trans Nzoia Senator Micheal Mbito, had also proposed a similar motion to bar governors from contesting any elective seat for five years, to give time for the accountability processes in both the Senate and Parliament to be completed.

Mbito’s attempt was stymied by the Senate’s Justice, Legal Affairs, and Human Rights Committee. Hopefully, the new motion will not meet the same fate.

Indeed, Chimera’s Bill should expand to bar senators from running for governor for five years after the end of their tour of duty in the Senate. Senators sit in judgement over governors. The harsh interplay that has been witnessed between senators and governors from the same county during committee meetings investigating county affairs speaks to this dynamic.

Senators seeking to succeed sitting governors will be working to delegitimise them and downplay their work so that they can raise grievances for political purposes. This has resulted in some very nasty back and forth. There can be no greater conflict of interest.

The Chimera Bill is a very important intervention. So, if one wants to be the next senator of a county, you have to chill out for five years if you have just completed your term as governor.

— The writer can be reached at [email protected]