Lawyer Willis Otieno has criticised Isiolo Governor Abdi Guyo after he failed to appear before a Senate committee investigating the use of county funds.

The Senate County Public Accounts Committee on Monday, July 27, 2026, directed Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja to arrest Guyo and produce him before senators within 10 days.

The order followed Guyo’s failure to attend a hearing scheduled for 2:00 pm.

He was expected to respond to Auditor-General queries on billions of shillings allocated to Isiolo County.

Otieno said holding public office did not exempt any leader from obeying lawful summons.

“If every Kenyan is expected to obey lawful summons, no governor should be above the law. Public office is not immunity,” he wrote on X.

He said Senate orders should be enforced without favour once all constitutional and procedural requirements have been met.

“Accountability is not optional; it is a constitutional obligation,” Otieno added.

Senate rejects Guyo’s explanation

Guyo’s office had written to the Senate on July 16 requesting the hearing to be rescheduled because of earlier county engagements.

However, the committee said Isiolo County officials and the Auditor-General received copies of the communication at about 12.30 pm on the day of the hearing.

Committee chairperson Moses Kajwang’ said senators had exhausted internal procedures before requesting police intervention.

The committee also asked Kanja to explain why an earlier order issued on July 9 had not been enforced.

Senators said the governor had repeatedly failed to attend audit hearings despite receiving invitations and summonses.

Why governors appear before the Senate

Article 96 of the Constitution gives the Senate authority to oversee national revenue allocated to county governments. Governors may therefore be required to explain county expenditure and respond to audit findings.

Article 125 gives the Senate and its committees powers similar to those of the High Court when summoning witnesses and demanding documents.

The Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act also allows parliamentary committees to compel the attendance of people who ignore lawful summons.

The Supreme Court has previously affirmed that the Senate can summon governors to answer questions involving county public finance.

Guyo is expected to face senators over the audit queries once the police enforce the latest directive.