NLC in trouble as accounts are attached over Sh397 million debt
National Land Commission acting CEO Kabale Arero Tache.
The National Land Commission (NLC) is cash-strapped and cannot honour its financial obligations, including paying salaries, after its bank accounts were attached over Sh397.3 million owed to city lawyer Prof Tom Ojienda.
The order against NLC was issued by Justice Eric Ogola of the High Court sitting in Eldoret on July 14 and it affects the commission’s four bank accounts – two at the National Bank of Kenya Hill Plaza branch and the other two at the Central Bank of Kenya.
The net effect of the order is that the commission’s 450 employees will not be paid, leaving them unable to meet their basic financial needs.
“This has affected the employees’ morale and most of them are looking for opportunities elsewhere,” a senior manager at the commission, who did not want to go on record, told the Nation.
But NLC Acting Chief Executive Officer Kabale Tache, in a short response, said: “No cause for alarm. We have appealed against the order and we have a stay order.”
The court order was issued after NLC failed to implement the court judgment of June 15 that awarded Prof Ojienda Sh393.3 million for services rendered to NLC.
In 2014, Prof Ojienda was instructed by NLC to represent it in a multi-billion shilling land dispute before the Eldoret High Court. The instructions were duly issued by the commission.
However, trouble started after some of the previous commissioners failed to acknowledge the fact that Prof Ojienda had proper instructions from the commission to represent it.
Giving of instructions was purely a management matter but ran into interferences from the commissioners. In the midst of the wrangles between the commissioners and management, Prof Ojienda went on to win the case for the commission.
The case had run for several years and Prof Ojienda issued a fee note of Sh397 million.
When the NLC failed to pay the amount, Prof Ojienda sought legal redress and was awarded the amount by the court.
Despite several attempts to recover his money, the current NLC team failed to honour the court orders, forcing Prof Ojienda back to court, this time, for a garnishee order against the commission’s accounts.
While appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly in May this year, Ms Tache said that the amount owed to Prof Ojienda was Sh524.13 million inclusive of tax.
PAC chairman Opiyo Wandayi (Ugunja MP) wondered how the commission was surviving financially despite the huge debt.
“If the law firm is owed that kind of money, how are you surviving? How can you remain afloat?” asked Mr Wandayi as he questioned the manner in which Prof Ojienda was hired.
Mr Brian Ikol, the commission’s Director of Legal Affairs and Regulatory Services, who accompanied the Ms Tache during the PAC meeting, told MPs that the commission had raised issues with Prof Ojienda’s legal fees claim.
“We have raised issues on the legal fees against the commission. We wrote a letter to Attorney-General Kihara Kariuki asking whether the monies are payable. The Attorney-General gave us the authority to pay some of the amounts while others were to wait for the determination of appeals for cases pending in court,” said Mr Ikol.
Prof Ojienda’s claim was among those filed in court against the commission.
The huge amount owed to Prof Ojienda also saw Mr Wandayi question why a legal firm would be contracted for such a huge sum.
“In future, you may need to diversify these services and not lump them into one law firm. It is risky to have all these monies owed to one firm. I don’t know what specialty Ojienda has,” said Mr Wandayi.
Prof Ojienda is now the Kisumu County senator having been elected in the August 9 elections.
