Report Reveals How Ex-AG Outrageously Spent Ksh420M for 1 Dispute

The Auditor General Edward Ouko has revealed how former Attorney General Githu Muigai exorbitantly spent an inflated Ksh420M on the procurement of services from six international law firms.

Ouko questioned the procurement procedure used by the then AG, to hire the firms which handled the Kenya-Somalia maritime border dispute at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague, Netherlands.

According to Ouko, Githu Muigai contravened the law in securing services of the law firms, whose identities are yet to be established. The six law firms are among the 17 international law firms hired by the former AG to handle cases filed against Kenyan in the 2017-2018 financial year.

In his audit report for the financial year 2017/2018, Ouko raised doubts on how the office of the former chief legal adviser to the government solely determined the legal fees paid to the lawyers as details to substantiate the process were unavailable for audit review.

"Although the management explained that the payments were related to legal fees paid to international firms for handling international cases on behalf of the government, details on how the law firms were procured and how their fees were determined were not provided for audit review," Ouko claimed in his audit report tabled in the Senate last week.

However, according to legal schedules and plans provide the State Law Office, the office, ON December 14, 2017, contracted London-based Marbdy Consulting Limited, Prof Vaughan Lowe, Prof Alan Boyle, and Ms. Army Sander to represent Kenya in the maritime border dispute.

The lawyers were then paid Ksh2.15 Million, Ksh2.86 Million, Ksh2.42 Million and Ksh1.78 Million respectively for their services.

As per the Auditor General, on the very same day, the government also hired Prof Mathias Forteau from France for Ksh2.64 Million to represent it in the same case and on December 14, 2018, the office contracted another French lawyer, Prof Payam Akhavan for Ksh13.12 Million for the same case.

In addition, out of the total payments of Ksh420 Million, only payment authorities amounting to Sh25 million were availed for audit verification, leaving a balance of Ksh394 Million unsupported,” read the report.

In February 2019, Kenya expelled the Somali ambassador and recalled its top envoy from Mogadishu, after the Kenya-Somalia maritime territorial dispute escalated into a full-blown diplomatic war.