KISII, Kenya – Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka has accused Governor Simba Arati of orchestrating a violent attack against a visiting Senate oversight team during a routine audit visit to the county.
In a statement on Monday, Onyonka claimed that hired “goons and criminals” disrupted the Senate Budget and Finance Committee’s proceedings last week, allegedly under the governor’s watch.
The incident, which took place during a scheduled examination of the county’s financial records, is now fuelling tensions between the Senate and the county executive.
“The committee visited Kisii not to fight physical wars but to audit the county’s books as required by law,” said the senator. “It is unfortunate and barbaric that instead of presenting a technical team to respond to audit queries, the governor chose to unleash gangs to frustrate the exercise.”
Onyonka, who is also a member of the Senate committee, said the attack targeted Senate staff based in Kisii, and was part of a larger attempt to shift public focus from alleged financial mismanagement in the county.
“This was a diversionary tactic to conceal violations of procurement laws and misuse of public funds,” he added. “We will still scrutinise Kisii County’s expenditure and hold every public officer to account—violence or no violence.”
I strongly CONDEMN the attack by goons and criminals who were hired by Simba Arati on the Senate Team during the Senate visit to Kisii County to audit and oversee the county’s books and spending. This happened under the glaring watch of the members of the Senate Budget and
The altercation occurred as the Senate team conducted field hearings and examined audit queries raised in recent reports by the Office of the Auditor-General.
The senator said the attack raises serious concerns about transparency and accountability in the county administration.
Senator Onyonka, who has emerged as a vocal critic of the governor, warned that no amount of intimidation would derail the Senate’s oversight mandate.
“Lack of basic education has turned Kisii County into one of the most chaotic,” he said. “Leadership is about solving problems—not unleashing violence.”
He also drew parallels between the incident and the recent controversial death of Albert Ojwang, a teacher and online activist who died in police custody in Nairobi.
“We cannot allow lawlessness to thrive in this nation,” Onyonka said, calling for accountability in both cases.
