Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza faced scrutiny on Tuesday from the County Public Accounts Committee of the Senate regarding the county’s legal status.
During the session, the Governor disclosed that the county had amassed 800 court cases on various matters.
However, despite the Governor's assertion on the number of court cases, she was unable to provide a full account of them.
The Senate committee noted that the governor could not present a schedule of the cases to substantiate her claim, providing confirmation for only two cases instead.
Furthermore, the committee discovered that the two cases had cost the county over Ksh601 million in legal fees.
Following this revelation, the Senators demanded a list of the cases, warning that if the 800 cases were ruled against the county, it could face severe consequences.
“We need an analysis of these cases,” warned Senator Fatuma Dullo, adding, "They affected the financial status of the County.”
Further, the committee probed the Meru Governor over an audit query from the Auditor General’s Office, which indicated that the county spent Ksh38.9 million in legal fees for various court cases filed against the county in the 2021/22 financial year.
Additionally, the office of the Auditor General detailed that there were no documents to support an additional expenditure of Ksh9.4 million in legal fees from the previous financial year.
The committee also noted with concern that Kawira Mwangaza had failed to appoint a County Attorney as mandated by the Constitution.
However, the Governor defended her position, stating that the functions of the office were being handled by the Chief Executive Committee (CEC) in charge of Public Service Management and Legal Affairs.
Despite this defence, the Senators opposed the move, arguing that a political appointee (CEC) was not fit to handle the legal matters of a county.
“The roles of County Attorney cannot be executed by a CEC. A political appointee should never take over the responsibilities of legal affairs, ” Senator Moses Kajwang noted.
