Governor SUSAN KIHIKA on the spot for using money meant for the poor Nakuru residents to pay her own private lawyers – Look!

Tuesday, April 9, 2024 - Nakuru residents may be getting a raw deal from Governor Susan Kihika if the Auditor General report is anything to go by.

This is after Kihika was unable to explain how her administration paid Ksh116 million to different lawyers. 

The irregular legal expenses were flagged by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu in a report on the County Executive spending for the 2022-2023 Financial Year. 

It was noted that during the period under review, the county government engaged the lawyers without following due process and there was also a lack of evidence on which services were rendered to warrant the Ksh116 million payment.

The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) marking the anomalies in the county’s legal expenses noted that the law firms were directly procured despite their services not being urgent.

Additionally, Susan Kihika’s administration did not provide reasons as to why the law firms were directly procured.

Raising worries that taxpayers could have lost money, the report further indicated that legal fees charged by the external law firms did not have itemized fee notes or justifications for the amounts charged. 

Auditor General Nancy Gathungu remarked that the lack of itemised fee notes or justifications raised fears that the hiring of the lawyers was not competitive. 

In another case of misappropriation and wastage of public funds, it was revealed that Nakuru County lost a civil case where a decree was issued in 2019 instructing the County Executive to pay Ksh98 million, failure to which it would incur interest. 

Auditor General Nancy Gathungu in her submissions noted that this was an amount that could have otherwise been avoided.

The Kenyan DAILY POST