Public Account Committees in Kenya, or even in the entire Commonwealth world, didn’t start working yesterday.

Public Account Committes are defined as a committee of Legislature who study public audits, invite relevant authorities to the Committee for questioning, and report on their findings subsequent to the Government budget audit.
Typically, PAC make recommendations and the government is required to report back to parliament on such PAC recommendations within a specified period.

More often than not, opposition members chair PACs in the commonwealth. Based on their findings, PACs often make recommendations to government ministries requiring that they change certain policies and procedures to improve their operations.

The PACs act strictly on Audit Reports. And their invitation of authorities is usually to ascertain documents or items in documents that the auditors quarry entails.

When PAC are notified in good time that the documents in question are being sought and asked for time to present, what can possibly lead the Committee to reject such a request and within 48 hours, storm the County in question?

Does the PAC mandate include visits to project sites and harassing staffs and contractors in the name of inspecting projects? Who granted them such mandate? And what is their expertise in constructions that can guide such visits?

The isiolo case scenario is unique in nature. It’s well acknowledged that there was some ongoing rift and exchanges between the Governor and the Senator of Isiolo.

It’s an open secret therefore, that the Senator selectively picked friendly Senate PAC members to market her to the people of Isiolo, adding weight to her open declaration to contest for Governor in 2027.

The unique new role of the Public Accounts Committee, crafted specifically for Isiolo, to police projects, harass staffers and contractors is a role that demands proper interpretation of the constitution up to and not limited to seeming a court injunction.

Furthermore their outburst in declaring the County a crime scene, among other threatening declarations, even beyond their very capacities, is tantamount to usurping the role of Crime detectives of some authoritarian rulers and demands condemnation and censure.

The dramatic PAC activities in Isiolo, mingling into local politics at the service of individual politician , are therefore wanting and demand the intervention of the requisite Courts to restrain these members from rendering the Senate a rogue institution at the service of individual politicians.