Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot/ HANDOUTA fresh confrontation is looming between the Senate and governors after lawmakers announced plans to publish the first-ever scientific performance ranking of all 47 county governments.
The move is expected to deepen the long-running rivalry between senators and governors, who have frequently clashed over oversight, accountability and the management of county resources.
Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot said the report, expected next week, will rely on official records from independent state agencies rather than opinion polls or perception surveys.
"The Senate of the Republic of Kenya will actually issue a report on the performance of county governments that is scientific and led by actual reports from other agencies, not us as a House," Cheruiyot said.
"It is what the Auditor General is saying. It is what the Controller of Budget is saying. It is what the National Treasury is saying about funds received by the various county governments. Therefore, nobody will accuse the Senate of favouring one county over another."
The Kericho senator said the scorecard would assess counties using measurable fiscal indicators covering the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years.
The assessment will examine how governors have managed pending bills, development spending, wage expenditure and other key financial indicators.
"You can see how your governor has handled the issue of pending bills, whether they are declining or increasing, the amount spent on development, how much has gone to personal emoluments and other parameters that measure the performance of county governments," Cheruiyot said.
He said the report would replace what he described as unscientific rankings by pollsters.
"That is an improvement from the very archaic reports that we get from newspapers, where you are told So-and-So is the best-performing governor without reference to any parameter," he said.
The ranking comes at a time when relations between the Senate and county bosses remain strained.
Governors have repeatedly accused senators of using oversight powers to settle political scores.
They argue that some senators are eyeing governorship seats in next year's General Election and are using parliamentary committees to weaken incumbents.
County chiefs have also complained that frequent summons before Senate committees disrupts service delivery and amounts to political persecution.
On the other hand, senators insist they are only carrying out their constitutional mandate of protecting public funds.
They accuse some governors of presiding over runaway corruption, irregular procurement, ballooning pending bills and poor implementation of development projects despite receiving billions of shillings from the National Treasury.
Cheruiyot said senators require more detailed financial information to strengthen oversight.
He backed a proposal seeking regular submission of Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) reports to the Senate, saying they would provide a clearer picture of how counties spend public money.
He recalled that in previous years, senators routinely received reports showing how much money had been released to counties through the Exchequer.
However, he said those reports only reflected allocations and did not show who was ultimately paid.
"This motion is a tremendous improvement because it is not just asking for Exchequer releases. It is asking for IFMIS disbursement reports detailing who has been paid, how much and for what service," he said.
INSTANT ANALYSIS
The Senate's plan to publish a scientific ranking of governors marks a significant shift in county oversight by relying on audited financial data rather than public perception. While lawmakers argue the scorecard will promote accountability and transparency, governors are likely to view it as a politically motivated exercise ahead of the 2027 elections. The initiative is expected to intensify the already strained relationship between senators and county chiefs while increasing public scrutiny of county finances and service delivery.
