Auditor General's report reveals lawyers raking in billions from devolved units, most of them picked from a pre-qualified list.
Marsabit County Public Service Board procured legal services from a law firm at Sh10.3 million to defend a civil case where the plaintiff had sued for Sh1 million in damages arising from the unlawful detention of a motor vehicle, an audit report has revealed.
The report by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu for the financial year ending June 2024 revealed that there was no evidence of the application of the Advocates Remuneration Order of 2014 in determining the legal fee.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu.
However, Marsabit’s case is not isolated, with lawyers raking in billions, often picked from a pre-qualified list with no further assessment as to legal costs and internal capacities, and firms getting more than half of the cases—and the money.
Nairobi County has perennially hit the headlines over its outrageous legal fees, with the Governor Johnson Sakaja-led administration owing four advocates Sh6.26 billion—representing 29 percent of the total pending legal fees of Sh21.37 billion.
This amount comprises an outstanding legal fees balance of Sh17.1 billion and decretal sums of Sh4.26 billion.
Decretal sums are money awarded in a court decree, encompassing the principal amount, costs, and any accrued interest. The pending legal fees represent 11 per cent of the county’s entire pending bills.
Nairobi County Governor Johnson Sakaja.
The county government is battling 1,086 ongoing legal cases, resulting in numerous legal claims incidental to its operations—whose outcome and financial impact or loss may not be ascertained or quantified.
“If those contingent liabilities crystallise, the county may be exposed to a huge cash outlay, which may affect its ability to meet obligations when they fall due, thus impacting service delivery,” reads the report.
“It was noted that most of the court cases related to issues such as unpaid claims for goods, works or services completed by contractors, unprocedural termination of employment contracts, irregular procurement processes, and poor contract management,” it adds.
Raising further concerns, the report revealed that advocates were appointed directly from a list of prequalified legal firms, without subjecting the process to a mini-competition—such as forming an ad hoc evaluation committee to assess quotations for legal services. No evaluation reports were provided either.
“In the circumstances, the audit could not verify how the legal firms were selected to provide services to the county. This lack of a competitive process may have resulted in inflated costs and missed opportunities to engage more qualified service providers,” the report said.
City Hall was also on the spot over the unfair award of cases and payments to advocates.
Of 159 court cases as of June 2024, 65 were assigned to just eight advocates, with each handling between four and 20 cases.
Multiple cases
Curiously, the management did not provide an explanation for the criteria used to allocate multiple cases to the eight advocates out of 350 prequalified law firms.
This was contrary to Regulation 91(5) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Regulations, 2020, which requires fair and equitable rotation among prequalified service providers.
In some cases, advocates defending new cases were paid, while older cases have remained unpaid for years.
Narok paid Sh364.9 million in legal fees—exceeding its Sh337.3 million budget by Sh27.6 million.
Kajiado incurred Sh79.1 million in legal fees, with law firms procured directly without written approval from the accounting officer or justification for urgency. Consequently, the fees were not competitively priced.
Of note, the county paid Sh2.8 million to a private law firm to review two legislative documents, despite having in-house legal staff capable of handling the work.
Siaya Governor James Orengo.
Siaya County, under Governor James Orengo, recorded unsupported legal fees of Sh34.6 million. Of this, Sh26 million went to a single law firm for an out-of-court settlement with no supporting documentation provided for audit. Another Sh4 million was paid in a civil case without any evidence of court attendance or itemised billing.
In what the audit termed “avoidable legal costs,” Mombasa County paid Sh67.5 million in legal fees for a case where it had failed to settle a Sh8.1 million balance—leading to decretal sums, costs, and interest totalling Sh68.5 million.
Kilifi County paid Sh71.57 million to six private lawyers and legal consultants without supporting documentation, such as court appearance records or written approvals by the county executive.
Maj (Rtd) Dr Dhadho Godhana, the Governor of Tana River County.
Tana River, under Governor Dhadho Godhana, irregularly paid four law firms Sh30.7 million without approvals, fee notes, or evidence of legal representation. Mandera County spent Sh45.5 million on legal services without proper approvals, while Machakos paid Sh38.8 million to four firms without providing relevant case files for audit.
Sh517.3 million
Kiambu, led by Governor Kimani Wamatangi, faces contingent liabilities of Sh517.3 million.
Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi.
Turkana’s stand at Sh165.6 million relating to some 14 legal cases in various courts.
Trans Nzoia was flagged for irregular legal services procurement, having directly tendered 24 cases to just seven firms—out of 36 prequalified firms.
Uasin Gishu spent Sh25.5 million on legal services despite having a fully staffed County Attorney’s office.
Nandi County, under Governor Stephen Sang, spent Sh36.8 million outsourcing legal services with no clarity on why in-house resources were not used.
Vihiga’s legal fees demand stood at Sh71.45 million. A single law firm is handling seven cases amounting to Sh58 million. The county also owes Sh188.8 million in judgment decrees.
Busia County, under Governor Paul Otuoma, spent Sh8.5 million on private law firms without justification for outsourcing legal work.
Kisumu paid Sh46 million for legal services with no supporting documentation. Homa Bay spent Sh11 million and has 350 ongoing court cases handled by external lawyers—despite a staffed county legal unit.
Migori spent Sh50.3 million, but fee notes lacked clarity on the work done.
Kisii spent Sh29 million, including Sh15 million paid to a construction company for a 2007 case initially worth Sh7.1 million.
Elgeyo Marakwet spent Sh2.7 million without executive committee approval or itemised fee notes.
