Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has moved to calm growing public anger after claims surfaced on social media that City Hall had spent more than Ksh21 billion on lawyers’ fees.
The allegations were raised by Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi in a post on X on Tuesday, January 13, in which he cited a local newspaper report suggesting that Nairobi County alone accounted for more than 70 per cent of all legal fees paid by counties.
“Nairobi City County alone is cited as having spent more than Ksh21 billion on lawyers’ fees,” Ahmednasir wrote, adding that much of the money was allegedly siphoned back to City Hall through corrupt schemes.
“This is haram! 80 per cent of such fees go back to City Hall and are ‘eaten’,” he claimed.
The explosive claims quickly ignited debate online, with many Kenyans questioning how a county struggling to fix roads, manage garbage and improve health services could afford such huge legal bills.
But Governor Sakaja came out strongly to dismiss the narrative, saying the figures being quoted were being misunderstood and misrepresented.
“You would know the difference between a claim and money actually paid,” Sakaja said in response.
“Ksh21 billion is the debt owed to lawyers that we found in 2022 and deemed completely untenable.”
According to the governor, the billions refer to pending legal claims that Nairobi County inherited when his administration took office in 2022 not money that has already left the county’s coffers.
He said the claims, some of which date back several years, were subjected to a detailed audit and review after his team assumed office. Following the scrutiny, the amounts demanded by lawyers were reduced by about half.
“No such amount has been paid, and these claims have since been reviewed downwards by half. Still too much! We do not have that kind of money to pay,” Sakaja said.
Despite the clarification, the issue has struck a nerve with many residents who see it as another window into the deep financial and governance challenges facing Nairobi.
On social media, some Kenyans have demanded a full public audit of the county’s legal expenses, while others want the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate how such massive claims accumulated in the first place.
For now, the row highlights a larger problem that has dogged City Hall for years: a mountain of unresolved lawsuits, questionable contracts and legal debts that continue to haunt successive administrations and ultimately, the Nairobi taxpayer.
