The Senate has seized the opportunity to hit two birds with a single swing of the sling. Whatever the outcome of their defiance of a court order stopping a review of the case of the impeached Embu County governor, the senators will have proved they have some power.
They will also have cautioned the 47 governors to 'know people'. These governors, senators say, have always treated them with disdain - ignoring their summons, and resisting their involvement as 'county MPs' in the running of devolved governments.
The governors also resisted the Senate's clamour for oversight in the running of counties as the county development legislation proposes. This, the governors say, would compromise the realisation of their promises to the electorate. Governors do not want senators - another centre of power - near their treasuries.
The Senate is not merely ignoring a court order to prove it belongs to the brotherhood of impunity. Senators are responding to a shared desire to prove they also are, and should be treated as important pillars of devolution. The senators have a test they intend to pass to disabuse the view they are an idle lot who are highly paid, but do not have much to show for it.
Already, the Senate has constituted an eleven-member team, and had a two-day retreat, last week, to consider what the committee chairman Senator Boni Khalwale of Kakamega County, said was a "response to very serious important issue". The Khalwale team is currently sitting to interrogate the burning issue.
When the Senate constituted the committee during an impromptu sitting on February 4, Kisumu County Senator, Anyang' Nyong'o, captured the feelings of his colleagues: "Humility is lacking in some office holders at the county level and it is bringing issues between governors and Members of County Assemblies and perhaps this process will bring some humility."
The office holders senators want to 'discipline' are governors, who often clash with members of their county assemblies. Fights for control of counties have been reported in Makueni County, where Governor Kivutha Kibwana threatened to resign, last year.
There is also Bomet County, where Governor Isaac Ruto has had a running battle with some members of the county assembly, with claims of outside incitement to sabotage the county executive.
In Vihiga County, Governor Moses Akaranga is 'ruling' under a standing threat of impeachment. County assembly members accuse the governor of irregular staff hirings. They have threatened to disband the county public service board. They consider this, a first step towards impeachment of Governor Akaranga and Deputy Governor Caleb Amaswache.
In another county in the former Nyanza province, 'India Mafia' is creating acrimony. There is disquiet in the county assembly over allegations the governor has sequestered himself with graduates from Indian universities, at the exclusion of others who may bring a different view in county governance.
In Kakamega County, Governor Wycliffe Oparanya is warning those threatening to recall him to keep Embu tricks out of the county. "Let them try and they will see. Kakamega is not like Embu. Those saying they want to remove me because the Embu governor has been impeached are idlers."
In Kiambu County, fear of impeachment saw Governor William Kabogo apologise for belittling the leadership of unmarried men and women. He acted before the slur invited censure from the county assembly.
The Embu censure was a result of one such clash where the county assembly accused the governor of corruption and abuse of office. The members accuse the governor of ignoring their recommendations to dismiss a county official for breaching procurement laws.
They also accuse the governor of inflating the cost of upgrading the Embu Stadium, and buying maize seeds without tendering. They claim the governor has no respect for the county assembly.
Article 181 of the Constitution allows the dismissal of a governor, "Where there are serious reasons for believing that the county governor has committed a crime under national or international law," or "for abuse of office or gross misconduct".
The senators also want to warn governors to avoid the fate of Embu County Governor Martin Wambora and Deputy Governor Dorothy Nditi. The two were ejected through a censure motion the County assembly executed despite a court order stopping the impeachment. The Senate has also picked up the gauntlet, even though the governor had an order from the High Court stopping senators from discussing the matter.
The impeachment of the Embu Governor and his deputy has sent the 47 governors into panic. They see more than one governor in trouble, but a possible replication should others fall afoul of their county assemblies. When that happens, the Senate would take up the matter with equal zeal in this struggle for turf.
Whatever the outcome of the Embu grit and the Senate move, governors have a reason for caution. But the rule of law, and humility, as Senator Nyong'o suggests, are their best defense against their rivals who may want to incite members of county assemblies against the 'mini-presidents".