City lawyer Willis Otieno has slammed the governors’ absenteeism from the crucial Senate committee meetings.

In a post on his official X account on Friday, February 20, 2026, Otieno called out governors with tendencies of spending more time in Nairobi than in their own counties.

On his part, the renowned lawyer described the governor’s traits as embarrassing after being elected to fix broken hospitals but ending up betraying the common mwananchi by snubbing accountability sessions with the Senate.

“It’s embarrassing to see governors elected to fix broken hospitals, dry taps and collapsed schools spending more time in Nairobi hotels than in their own counties. Leadership is not about white kanzus and photo sessions over cappuccino in five-star lounges,” Willis Otieno said.

Senate call to governors

His remarks come just days after the Senate and Council of Governors (CoG) standoff intensified, with Senate Speaker Amason Kingi dismissing the county bosses’ threat to boycott committee summons as unacceptable. 

This as senators accused of soliciting bribes and harassing governors turned the heat on their accusers, demanding that Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja arrest governors who have refused to appear before the committee.

IG Kanja appeared before the committee to clarify what action would be taken against governors who have failed to honour summons, including a recent resolution by 40 governors to boycott the sessions entirely.

“There are a few governors who have decided they won’t come before Parliament. Where summoned, there could be recourse, and the IG can direct that a governor be arrested,” CPAC Chairperson Moses Kajwang stated. 

“In instances where they refuse to comply, the Service, under the direction of the committee, is always ready to effect arrests,” IG Kanja noted. 

Governors snub Senate calls

This comes after the Council of Governors (CoG) announced that governors will not appear before CPAC, alleging that they have been humiliated by senators every time they appear for summons.

Notably, the Committee had issued summons to the Nandi, Laikipia, Lamu, Muranga and Tharaka Nithi governors after they failed to appear to respond to audit queries.

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna stated that the move by CoG to snub summons is an indication of poor leadership in counties, at the expense of poor service delivery.

“What is oversight? If we give you the money, you use the money, you have to account for it. When we hear statements from the CoG saying they will not appear here because we embarrass them, they embarrass themselves by the things they have been doing with public money,” Sifuna stated.