IEBC put to task on Sh390 million legal fees
Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi was paid Sh40 million by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- It emerged that Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi pocketed Sh40 million in the case that was filed by opposition leader Raila Odinga.
- MPs raised concern over the high legal fees that IEBC has been paying its advocates.
- The MPs failed to understand why IEBC paid Mr Abdullahi more than the lead counsel.
The electoral commission paid 14 law firms a staggering Sh390 million to handle the 2013 presidential case at the Supreme Court, MPs heard on Monday.
The National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee heard that out of the Sh390 million, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) lead lawyer Aurelio Rebelo was paid Sh30 million while other lawyers were paid Sh25 million.
It also emerged that Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi pocketed more than what the Wafula Chebukati-led commission paid its lead counsel in the case that was filed by opposition leader Raila Odinga. Mr Abdullahi was paid Sh40 million.
But when contacted, Mr Abdullahi said he was the lead counsel and deserved the amount he was paid.
LOWEST AMOUNT
“Going by what we charge as senior counsels, that was the lowest amount. They could not afford the original fee. I was the lead counsel in the case and anybody disputing that is misleading. How could I have allowed a junior counsel to lead me,” he told Nation.
MPs raised concern over the high legal fees that IEBC has been paying its advocates, with some suspecting conspiracy between the commission and lawyers to defraud taxpayers of billions of shillings.
The committee chairman and Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi said the revelations of the amount paid to lawyers indicate that doing business with IEBC is lucrative. “If in only one presidential case the commission spends Sh1 billion, then it seems to be a very lucrative business engaging IEBC,” Mr Wandayi said.
CONSPIRACY
The MPs failed to understand why IEBC paid Mr Abdullahi more than the lead counsel. “It appears to me that there was a conspiracy between IEBC and the advocates to make these huge payments,” said Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo. Appearing before the committee yesterday, IEBC chief executive officer Ezra Chiloba alongside commissioners Paul Kurgat and Margaret Wanjala Mwachanya explained that the Sh40 million was settled on after a negotiation as Mr Abdullahi was even demanding more.
Mr Chiloba told the MPs that Mr Abdullahi was paid the amount due to his qualifications. He added that there was a shortage of good lawyers in the country to handle the case for the commission.
CONTRACTED LAWYERS
The CEO further told the committee that the commission has since capped the amount it pays to contracted lawyers based on the type of case.
According to Mr Chiloba, the commission currently pays Sh4.5 million for a case in the Supreme Court.
“The commission has since set guidelines on how much to pay lawyers, based on the type of case being prosecuted,” Mr Chiloba said.
But Mr Amollo said he had been in the court corridors for a long time but had never seen such kind of money paid for legal representation.
The Auditor General in his 2014/15 report indicates that the commission as at June 30, 2013, had outstanding pending bills relating to legal fees totalling Sh1,054,889,115.
“However, a sample test of 68 advocates that IEBC instructed to represent them reveals that they have been paid Sh2,145,632,115 as part of the pending bills since June 30, 2013,” Mr Ouko said.
