Nairobi — Even as the Nairobi County Government grapples with hefty pending bills amounting to billions of shillings, Governor Johnson Sakaja has raised an eyebrow over Sh21 billion pending bill of legal fees only.
Governor Sakaja who spoke after assenting to the Nairobi City County Appropriations Bill 2022 on Monday said it's baffling to find fee notes ranging from Sh400 million to Sh2 billion quoted for litigating small matters.
The Governor said they will embark on an internal audit to establish the reason behind the high fee notes, warning that those found culpable of colluding to inflate it will face dire consequences.
According to Sakaja, the review will also cover other pending bills, noting that he inherited sh 99.06 billion from the previous administration.
"A County cannot be having a pending bill of sh 21 billion in legal fees only. I have told the County Attorney that Iam going to hold to account anybody at City Hall who colludes in creating such fee notes," Governor Sakaja stated.
The Governor said his administration is focused on serving the people and not just using taxpayers money to pay lawyers and contractors.
He said he wants to focus on people centered projects/ programs and that all the resources must be utilized prudently.
"There must be accountability on each and every shilling, and no one will be protected in case they are found to abuse these resources," he said.
The Governor however pledged to settle pending bills of genuine suppliers and contractors, with priority given to those who have already completed works.
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"Contract who have done honest work and yet to paid, I have sat with a number of them and I want to assure them that they will be paid," he added.
The issue of legal fees in the Nairobi County Government has been scrutinized severally, including in March this year when Nairobi MCAs raised concerns over sh 6 billion legal fees claimed by 50 external lawyers.
The ward representatives wondered why the county continues to engage external lawyers who charge exorbitant fees, yet the county has a staffed legal department capable of handling the matters.
In 2021, the Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission (EACC) commenced probe on questionable payment of legal fees to 26 law firms by the county.
Ex- Auditor General Edward Ouko in his 2016- 2017 report also raised concerns over sh 592.4 million which was used by the legal department.
