USIU Ordered to Pay Fired Lawyer Ksh150 Million

United States International University-Africa (USIU-A) has been ordered to pay a prominent city lawyer Ksh152 million for firing him.

Paul Ndung’u was fired for failing to disclose his past dealings in a 20-acre piece of land the institution is fighting over with former President Daniel Arap Moi and US-based businessman George Kiongera.

USIU-A had asked High Court Judge Stephen Okong’o to stop the lawyer from demanding payment until the case about the land in Muthaiga, Nairobi, in which he represented it, is heard and determined.

Ndung’u sued USIU-A in 2018 demanding legal fees.

USIU-A insists that Ndung’u is not entitled to legal fees because he failed to disclose his past dealings with the land before agreeing to represent the university.

Justice Okong’o allowed the lawyer and his firm to hold onto USIU’s case file as security for the Ksh152 million legal fees.

Ndungu Njoroge & Kwach Advocates has been representing USIU-A since 2017 when the university sued to stop Maestro Connections Health Systems Ltd, owned by Kiongera, from occupying and developing the land.

In court, USIU-A stated that DPS International sold the 20.3-acre parcel to insurance firm ICEA, which then sold it to the university.

Mwangi and Kiongera both claim to have bought the land directly from Moi, who insists that he has never sold the land.

Moi has accused Andrew Sunkuli, a brother of his former aide, Julius Sunkuli, and lawyer Samson Omwanza Ombati of illegally selling the land.

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