City lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi. photo | jeff angote | nmg
Parliament Monday questioned the Sh40 million that the
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) paid lawyer
Ahmednasir Abdullahi for his services in the 2013 presidential election
petition that lasted seven days at the Supreme Court.
The
IEBC paid Mr Abdullahi for representing former IEBC chair Issack Hassan
while Aurelio Rebelo was paid Sh30 million for being the commission’s
top lawyer.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC)
demanded to know why the commission paid Mr Abdullahi more money than Mr
Rebello and the other law firms.
“Why did you pay
lawyer Ahmednasir more than Mr Rebelo who was the lead lawyer for the
commission?” Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo asked.
The IEBC released Sh385 million to 14 law firms with the highest paid receiving Sh40 million and the least Sh30 million.
Mr Ezra Chiloba, the IEBC chief executive, told MPs that the amount paid to Mr Abdullahi was a negotiated figure.
“Mr
Abdullahi was the lead lawyer for the returning officer for the
presidential election. The Sh40 million was negotiated. In fact he had
asked for much more money,” Mr Chiloba said.
He
said 14 lawyers were engaged to defend the commission and its chairman.
Mr Chiloba said the commission received a fee note of Sh568 million as a
result of the presidential petition, but paid Sh385 million following
negotiations.
Auditor-General Edward Ouko had questioned the legal fees paid to law firms amounting to Sh1.06 billion.
No comments :
Post a Comment