NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 4 — The Controller of Budget has declined City Hall’s request to approve Sh1 billion in pending bills owed to legal firms that served the Nairobi County Government.
In a letter dated June 27, Margaret Nyakang’o directed Charles Kerich, the Nairobi County Executive Committee Member for Finance and Economic Planning, to provide clarifications on the exchequer requisition for legal fees totaling Sh1,068,277,305.
She argued that the Johnson Sakaja-led administration failed to provide the Pending Bills Payment Plan, which would enable the matching of individual payees to the requisition.
Nyakang’o’s office further ighlighted the difficulty in matching the proposed payments with the Pending Bills Report previously presented to her office.
She directed the County Treasury to provide the following the basis of the legal fees.
“The status of each court case should be provided, including copies of judgments where given,” Nyakang’o said.
Contested formula
She further asked to be furnished with the criteria used to select the payments and the application of the “recommended first-in first-out method” in identifying the bills.
Additionally, Nyakang’o asked the Nairobi Treasury CEC Member to provide information on whether the proposed payment is a partial or final payment to the legal firms.
Regarding the requisition for development expenditure of Sh378,860,686, she noted that the schedule of 19 firms to be paid lacked invoice dates, making it difficult to determine if they are pending bills or related to works done and invoiced in the current financial year.
Nyakang’o recommended a revision of the schedule to include invoice dates and attached copies of payment vouchers for the 19 firms.
In January, the Sakaja administration appointed a 14-member special committee chaired by Kamotho Waiganjo to review the Sh 2.1 billion owed to lawyers and provide a report within four months.
The committee’s mandate was later extended by an additional four months in May.
On June 20, Rodney Wesonga and Mwangi Ngatia Advocates filed a lawsuit against Governor Sakaja and City Hall, alleging discrimination in the settlement of legal payments to 15 firms while excluding others.
The suit was filed after the National Treasury initiated the process of disbursing funds to City Hall to settle pending bills, and upon learning that only 15 firms were earmarked to receive the legal fees.
“It is not clear the modality the 1st Respondent (Nairobi County Government) used to settle on paying the said 15 Law Firms in clear discrimination of the Applicant firm and other firms that have equally provided legal services to the 1st Respondent,” Wesonga, one of the partners at Mwangi Ngatia Advocates, argued in the application.
