City Lawyer Tom Ojienda Loses Kshs 87M in Battle With Nairobi County Govt

Senior Counsel Tom Ojienda lost a High Court bid to compel Nairobi County to pay him Kshs 87 million owed to him in legal fees.

While making his ruling, Justice John Mativo argued that Ojienda did not follow the right process to get a ruling compelling the county government to pay his fees.

Mativo questioned Ojienda’s failure to table relevant evidence showing previous demand for payment, making it impossible to prove City Hall’s refusal to pay him.

“One would have expected a written prior demand for payment. This has not been annexed to the application. One cannot talk of a refusal to pay if there is no evidence of prior demand for the payment,” Mativo noted.

Ojienda had presented the matter to the High Court arguing that he had been awarded the Kshs 87 million after the court on March 29, 2017, ordered that the legal fees owed to him accrue interest of 14 per cent until he was paid in full.

He was, therefore, demanding for the High Court to make a compulsion order to have the Nairobi County Government pay him his fees plus the accrued interest.

On their part, City Hall argued that they were not involved in the ruling that awarded Ojienda the hefty sum.

They claimed that they had not been served with a court order nor decree regarding the matter.

Mativa hence dismissed Ojienda’s request as premature, misconceived and an abuse of the court process.

"It is not possible to compute the time in absence of a prior demand to comply,” He pointed out.

  • .