Council of Governors (CoG) chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi addressing the Devolution Conference in Homa Bay on August 14, 2025. /CoGCouncil of Governors (CoG) chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi has made a spirited appeal for county chiefs to be included in pension schemes.
Speaking on Thursday during the Devolution Conference in Homa Bay, Abdullahi said many former governors are in such dire financial straits that some cannot even afford the much-publicised citizen-friendly Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
“Yesterday we heard how there’s an impending law to give pension to MCAs. MPs have pension, why can’t governors have pension?” he posed.
“Why do we want to pride as a nation that our governors, some of whom have served two terms, don’t even have medical cover?”
The CoG boss also condemned what he described as the unfair targeting of governors in the fight against corruption.
To date, three governors have been impeached, two of them on corruption-related charges.
One is serving a sentence but is out on bond pending the outcome of an appeal.
Several others have survived impeachment attempts, while others continue to face unending threats from county assembly members, largely over alleged corruption.
Abdullahi noted that the current lifestyles of most former governors are a stark contrast to the millions of shillings they were once accused of mismanaging or stealing.
“A lot of governors who left office are in dire straits economically. We would actually want to be told how many of the choppers at Wilson (airport) belong to governors or former governors,” he remarked.
In his opening address at the conference on Wednesday, President William Ruto reaffirmed his commitment to eradicating corruption across all levels of government, citing the 30 July signing of the Conflict of Interest Bill into law as a key step in curbing state officers’ abuse of office for personal gain.
While welcoming such measures as commendable, Abdullahi insisted that county bosses have too often been singled out, feeding calls from some quarters to dismantle devolution.
“Your Excellency, as a Council of Governors, we feel that the fight against corruption has unfairly targeted governors and it has been a case of calling devolution a bad name so that along the way, there’s reason to kill it,” he said.
“That’s not to say there’s no corruption in counties; we have admitted as Kenyans that corruption pervades every aspect of our lives. All we are saying is let’s fight all corruption.”
