Shame of Governors spending up to Sh1 billion for legal fees » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 3 –Did you know that some Governors in the country are paying as much as Sh1 billion for legal fees?

Yes, Sh1 billion to lawyers to represent them or their counties on cases that can be handled by the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism or by county lawyers.

It has also emerged that some Governors even engage external lawyers for their own personal matters before invoicing the counties.

This shocking revelation was made on Wednesday by the Senate Committee on Devolution which has launched an investigation into the high litigation costs at a time most counties can not pay for essential services, including health.

“This is worrying, and we need to find ways on how we can put to an end the trend where some counties are paying around Sh1 billion as legal fees,” the Committee chair and Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang said on Wednesday during a session where Nairobi Acting Governor Anne Kananu had been invited to shed light on the alleged illegal payment of legal fees to outsourced law firms by the County, but she failed to appear.

According to a report by the Inter-Governmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC), some counties’ part with an average of Sh100 million when handling a single case with the huge cost attributed to the sluggish development in some regions.

Kajwang noted that it was unfortunate that some Governors were inconsiderate by incurring the enormous costs of legal fees when most of the devolved units have more pressing needs.

“It is a concern that amongst the pending bills of the counties, the biggest items are legal fees,” he said.

The Ministry of Devolution and Planning is in the process of developing the regulations to facilitate Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) but the counties have been faulted for continuously using courts as the first forum for the resolution of intergovernmental disputes.

President Uhuru Kenyatta in July signed into law the County Attorney’s Bill of 2018 which establishes the Office of the Attorney General in all the 47 County governments and seeks to prevent looting of county funds through Governors outsourcing legal services.

In the IGRTC report that was compiled following a directive by President Kenyatta in February 2016, the costs include both direct financial expenditure and opportunity costs due to delayed, frustrated or abandoned projects as a result of court cases.

It was established that advocates’ fees for cases at the High Court ranged between Sh20 million – Sh30 million per case and many instances of advocates charging as much as Sh75 million and with one case Sh200 million.

Nairobi County is on the spot after the Committee established that it spent Sh795 million out of the county’s allocation of Sh2.5 billion which was meant for the clearance of all pending bills in the financial year 2018/2019.

Nominated Senator Millicent Omanga had petitioned the Committee seeking an explanation from the County on the huge costs incurred as legal fees.

Whereas former Governor Mike Sonko was the holder of the office then and oversaw the payments of the legal fees, Senators were infuriated by the absence of acting Governor Anne Kananu who was accused of being in contempt of the House.

“We did not invite her for a fashion show or for lunch. We invited her for very serious business that needs answers,” Kajwang said.

Garissa Senator Abdul Haji said Kananu was treating the matter casually and asked his colleagues to take stern action against her.

“We need to send a message; we cannot be barking all the time as a House. We need to bite,” he said.

Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot said Kananu should be fined and a warrant of arrest issued against her but Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen intervened and asked the Committee to give her seven more days to appear.

The Acting Governor is scheduled to appear before the Committee on Wednesday as it also prepares to invite other agencies and Governors to explain on the justification of the expenditures.