Senate's CPAC committee chair Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang at the Malindi County Assembly, Kilifi County on September 21, 2026./JULIUS OTIENO
The Senate County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAC) has rejected a request by Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro to postpone his appearance before the committee.
The committee said his claim of being indisposed was not backed by a medical report.
The committee also rejected the governor’s request that it suspend its planned inspection of county projects because of his absence.
Senator Kajwang has directed the Kilifi Deputy Governor to appear before the committee tomorrow, Tuesday, to explain the county’s Sh10.7 billion in pending bills.
Kilifi has the second-highest pending bills burden among the 47 counties after Nairobi, raising concerns over the county’s financial management and ability to settle its obligations.
Senate's CPAC committee chair Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang at the Malindi County Assembly, Kilifi County on September 21, 2026./JULIUS OTIENO
Kajwang said the committee could not travel about 500 kilometres to Kilifi only for the governor to fail to appear without providing proper medical documentation.
“There is no way the Committee could have travelled 500 kilometres only for the governor not to show up,” Kajwang said.
The senator said the Constitution provides for continuity of county government even when a governor is unavailable, pointing to Article 179, which provides for a deputy governor to act in the governor’s absence.
“The Deputy Governor is constitutionally empowered to act in the absence of the Governor,” he said.
“It does not mean when the governor is sick the county is or should be sick.”
Kajwang’ said the committee would proceed with its planned programme despite Mung’aro’s absence, directing the deputy governor to appear and account for the Sh10.7 billion in pending bills.
The committee ruled that Mung’aro’s request did not meet the threshold for postponement because it was not accompanied by a report from a qualified medical doctor confirming his condition.
The governor had been scheduled to appear before CPAC to respond to questions on the accumulation of pending bills and other financial matters affecting the county.
The committee is also conducting an inspection of development projects in Kilifi as part of its oversight mandate.
Kajwang said the decision to summon the deputy governor should not be interpreted as creating a precedent for future committee proceedings.
He said the move had been necessitated by the “extraordinary circumstances” obtaining in Kilifi and the need to ensure that oversight work continues despite the governor’s absence.
The deputy governor is expected to appear before the committee on Tuesday to respond to questions surrounding the county’s growing pending bills.
The committee is expected to continue with its planned inspection of projects in the county.
