The Senate has issued a summons notice to the Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, over what it has described as contempt of parliament.

The County Public Accounts Committee (CPAC) issued the summons after the police boss failed to arrest and produce Samburu Governor Lati Lelelit, who is being sought by the committee for the same reason of contempt of Parliament.

Speaking at the Parliament building on Monday, January 26, 2026 during a committee sitting, the members of the committee, led by its chairperson, Senator Moses Kajwang’, accused the Inspector General of ignoring lawful directives from the Senate and engaging in actions that undermine the authority of Parliament.

“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. The police must understand that they do not operate under a different constitutional order. This committee will not tolerate contempt of Parliament by the IGP or his failure to facilitate the work of Parliament,” Kajwang said.

The decision of the Senate follows the Inspector General’s failure to comply with the Committee’s directives to arrest Governor Lelelit and produce him before the committee.

Background for the summons

The Samburu governor is being sought to account for billions of shillings allocated to Samburu County during the 2023/24 financial year. This contempt led the committee’s decision to slam the governor with a fine of Ksh500,000, ordering him to appear on December 4, 2025.

The Governor, however, failed to honour the summons.

In a subsequent occasion, the Senate committee wrote to the Inspector General on December 9, directing him to locate, arrest, and produce the governor before it on December 18.

However, in a letter dated December 18, 2025, the Inspector General informed the committee that he had been unable to establish the governor’s whereabouts and therefore could not effect the arrest.

Responses to summons

In response, the committee instructed the police boss to investigate the governor’s whereabouts and produce him before the committee on January 26, 2026. The Inspector General neither responded to the letter nor presented the governor as directed.

In his response, Governor Lelelit later wrote to the committee explaining that he was unable to attend the meeting because he was scheduled to attend the ruling party, United Democratic Alliance (UDA) National Governing Council meeting at State House, Nairobi, chaired by President William Ruto.

However, the chairperson of the committee, Senator Kajwang, dismissed the explanations given by both the Inspector General 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 in executing its oversight mandate, as this translated to an undermining of the parliament’s role to conduct oversight.

Governor Lelelit is now expected to appear before the committee on Tuesday, February 3, 2026.