Nairobi — President William Ruto’s latest corruption salvo has placed the Senate in an uncomfortable spotlight, after revealing unnamed Senators pocketed Sh150 million to sway an impeachment vote.
The revelation, made during a joint Kenya Kwanza-ODM parliamentary group meeting on Monday, has raised fresh questions about the integrity of impeachment proceedings, already derided in political circles as a “soko huru” (free market) where governors’ survival often comes down to bargaining rather than justice.
“By virtue of my position, I am a consumer of raw intelligence. The latest ‘soko huru’ in the Senate… where does someone find Sh150 million? Is that his money? That is money that belongs to the county!” Ruto remarked.
“Do you know that some members of this House received up to Sh10 million to pass the Anti-Money Laundering Bill?” Ruto challenged legislators, accusing Parliament of degenerating into a marketplace where votes are openly traded.
The President’s revelations come barely a month after the Senate spared Isiolo Governor Abdi Ibrahim Guyo, whose impeachment bid collapsed on a technicality.
His survival, though based on procedural objections, revived murmurs about the influence of money and political muscle in high-stakes Senate proceedings.
Senate ‘Survivors’
Since devolution, Senate has repeatedly drawn scrutiny for its handling of governors’ impeachment cases.
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Of the dozens of motions filed against county chiefs, only a handful have ever gone the full distance to removal, with many collapsing on procedure, political compromise, or lack of quorum.
The pattern has fed a perception that impeachment is less a tool of accountability and more a ritual of negotiation, where governors lobby, trade favours–or, as Ruto now affirms, dole out massive inducements to secure political lifelines.
Ruto did not name the senator or specify which impeachment he was referencing. But the figure–Sh150 million in a single transaction–has electrified political chatter.
Critics argue that if true, such payouts not only undermine the credibility of Parliament but also cheapen devolution itself, reducing constitutional safeguards into bargaining chips.
Anti-corruption investigators have yet to announce any probe into the matter. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), already alarmed by rising graft in counties, may now come under pressure to follow up on the President’s explosive intelligence briefings.
The remarks mark the second time in a week that Ruto has directly taken aim at Parliament.
At the Devolution Conference in Homa Bay on August 13, he accused MPs of “holding legislation hostage for handouts,” a warning he has now amplified with figures and examples.
