Nairobi County is facing a storm over Sh10.7 billion in legal fees demanded by law firms, many of which have no contracts, case files or legal opinions to support the payments.

The County Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee has opened investigations into what MCAs are calling a deliberate scheme to defraud the county through inflated and undocumented legal claims.

One of the cases at the centre of the scandal began in 2014, when Nairobi issued a Sh5.3 million land rates demand to Yellow Horse Inn Limited. But the situation changed dramatically when City Hall later claimed the land belonged to the county, reversing its position in court. MCAs now say this was a staged dispute to justify legal costs.

Momanyi and Associates Advocates, hired to represent the county in the matter, initially issued a Sh80 million fee note, later revised to Sh34 million, but no paperwork has been provided to explain how the figure was arrived at.

In a different case involving alleged corruption in recruiting traffic marshals, Gikunda Miriti and Company Advocates was paid Sh67 million, down from an initial claim of Sh100 million. Another Sh30 million was paid out to a third firm without any legal file or contract.

Ngara MCA Mwaura Chege questioned how the county could demand land rates from a private tenant then later claim ownership. “Does that not signal a failure of due diligence?” he asked.

Baba Dogo MCA Geoffrey Majiwa added, “That parcel in Ruaraka was earmarked for a fire station. Yet, a demand was issued, rates were paid, and the land was eventually sold. There's now a private fire station on public land, and the county is in court trying to reclaim it.”

County Attorney Christine Ireri said many of the payments were made before she took office, with little or no oversight. She confirmed that no advocate is currently being paid unless their claim is reviewed and verified internally.

“If a firm was previously promised Sh60 million, that figure must now be vetted against the Advocates Remuneration Order by our in-house lawyers,” she said.

Ireri said a taskforce reviewing legal bills had gone through 162 files by late last year, covering Sh7 billion in claims. So far, the county has paid Sh375.9 million for legal services.

Some law firms are said to be resisting the new vetting process, but Ireri insists the county must enforce transparency. “Many of them expected to be paid the full amounts they negotiated with individual county officials. But we must prioritise transparency and fiscal responsibility,” she said.

With only 24 in-house lawyers, including the county attorney, Nairobi has relied heavily on private law firms. Governor Sakaja’s administration plans to hire 20 more lawyers to reduce dependency on external advocates and prevent further abuse.

Ireri revealed that some promises made to law firms were shocking.

“Some of these payments were committed by a single individual without any oversight. For example, we found one advocate who had been promised Sh1 billion. That is not only shocking but unacceptable,” she said.

She said payments must now follow proper legal procedures. “We need to build a system that protects public resources, holds people accountable, and ensures legal representation is based on merit and not personal deals,” she said.