Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi has ignited fresh debate over alleged corruption in Senate committees, following claims by governors that some senators demand bribes to go slow on audit queries.
His remarks came after a Daily Nation report on Wednesday detailed a deepening feud between governors and senators.
The publication reported that governors have threatened to “name and shame” senators they accuse of running an extortion racket during oversight hearings.
Senators, in turn, challenged the county bosses to prove the claims and questioned why any governor would pay a bribe if they had nothing to hide.
Reacting on X, Ahmednasir delivered a scathing critique of public institutions, suggesting that corruption had become entrenched in the system.
“Why don't we just legalise bribes and have an annual price list that is periodically adjusted in line with an annual rate of inflation by a regulator?” he posed.
He went further to describe the courts as “JurisPESA” (a term implying corruption within the judiciary) and Parliament as a “den of corruption.”
The senior lawyer also widened his criticism beyond Parliament, alleging that Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries had become billionaires within short periods in office.
He claimed state corporations and county governments were equally compromised.
“Governors are billionaires… filthy rich!” he wrote, adding that oversight agencies such as the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) only act “when instructed by the Office of the President.”
Ahmednasir questioned the direction the country was taking, asking whether Kenya was heading toward global standards of governance or drifting further from them.
“Where are we headed as a country? Obviously not to Singapore!” he remarked.
A publication of the Daily Nation on Wednesday, February 11.
The bribery allegations have heightened tensions between the Senate and county governments.
Senators maintain their constitutional mandate is to oversee counties and protect public funds, while governors argue that some oversight sessions have turned into platforms for coercion.
The standoff now raises broader questions about accountability and institutional integrity.
With governors threatening to boycott watchdog committees and senators demanding evidence, the confrontation could test the strength of Kenya’s devolution framework.