Senators now demand that all secretaries in President William Ruto's Cabinet must be reined in for defying Parliament directives.
In the latest iteration, Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale accused Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi of adopting an unpleasant attitude against the Senate.
Speaking on the floor of the House on Wednesday, the outspoken lawmaker claimed that the CS issued a flimsy reason for skipping a grilling session slated for that morning.
Mudavadi had been invited to respond to a number of questions from the senators but, in a last-minute ditch, sent a letter informing the sitting that he was outside the country on delegated duties.
"Mr Speaker, from your communication, the Prime Cabinet Secretary has alerted the Senate this morning. It should also occur to this house that this is not the first time the Prime CS has failed to appear before this House," he sternly observed.
"If this does not imply attitude, then what does? The CS has an attitude about this house. He thinks that the house is waiting for him and this morning, it discovers that he is not around."
Mudavadi was expected to make a presentation alongside his Treasury and Energy counterparts Njuguna Ndung'u and Davis Chirchir.
Whereas he excused Chirchir for attending a Dubai event and informing the house of his travels in a timely manner, Khalwale, who belongs to the same political camp as the Prime CS, accused Ruto's Cabinet of mistreating Kenyans by failing to honour Parliamentary summons.
Khalwale further warned Senate Speaker Amason Kingi that if most of the CSs are left unchecked, they will turn the August house into a mockery.
"He had a 7-day window during which he knew he was travelling. He should have informed us. This is now the time to sanction the Prime CS so that he respects the house of equity that represents the 47 counties of Kenya," he added.
"The current Cabinet, if we do not call it to order as Parliament, they are going to run a rough short on all Kenyans. Same applies to Njuguna Ndung'u. These two (Ndung'u and Mudavadi), who represent critical portfolios, must be here. I beg you to sanction them. Who are they to challenge the Senate?"
Kingi, however, declined to sanction them and asked the aggrieved Senators, who included Khalwale and Kiambu's Karung'o Thang'wa, among others, to file motions.
Mudavadi is on an official tour in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he held discussions with the country's Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, on improving bilateral ties.
