Nairobi, April 28 -- Governors and senators have ended months of confrontation on county oversight after a closed-door meeting sealed a deal requiring devolved government chiefs to appear before Senate watchdog committees, effectively ending a boycott that had threatened to disrupt funding to the units.

The agreement, reached after high-level talks between Senate leadership and the Council of Governors, paves the way for governors to resume appearances before the County Public Accounts Committee and the County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee, which scrutinise the use of billions of shillings allocated to counties.

Council chairman Ahmed Abdullahi, who led the governors' delegation, had previously accused senators of extor...