The Council of Governors (CoG) has opposed a petition filed in Senate to block County Governments from outsourcing legal services, noting that there has been a significant reduction in the same due to enhanced capacity in legal departments in Counties.
The petitioner in his submission, accused Counties of paying billions in legal fees to external lawyers despite having fully established legal departments within the devolved units.
Appearing before the joint Senate Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations together with the Senate Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Governors led by the CoG vice chair H.E Ahmed Abdullahi said that there are certain factors that necessitate hiring of external lawyers.
“Whereas county attorneys are competent and qualified legal professionals, cases affecting County Governments may require specialized experts in various fields. Notably, other institutions, including the Senate, have also hired external lawyers for technical matters,” said H.E. Ahmed Abdullahi.
“I want senators to think about what could happen if this house was barred from outsourcing highly qualified lawyers for a matter in court concerning them,” added the Wajir Governor.
Giving his remarks, Bungoma Governor H.E. Kenneth Lusaka emphasized the need to engage the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to address the issue of disparity in pay for County Attorneys in comparison to their counterparts in other public offices. Further, the Advocates Remuneration Order sets limits on legal fees, which should guide the remuneration process for external lawyers on a case by case basis.
CoG CEO Mary Mwiti on her part highlighted that counties only hire external lawyers on need basis and in dire situations where County Governments need specific expertise on legal issues.
Senators urged County Governments to outsource external legal services in good faith and undertake due process including seeking for quotations and negotiating with the law firms to get the most favourable fee notes.

The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) officially called off their ninety-nine-day strike on Monday 8th July 2024 and instructed all members to return to their workstations within the next twenty-four hours.
This development follows the signing of a Return to Work Formula agreement between the workers’ union and the Council of Governors (CoG).
“We have been on strike until today. By virtue of signing this agreement, we are officially declaring that our strike has come to an end. Our members shall resume duty in their respective places of work starting today and not later than 24 hours,” stated KUCO Secretary General George Gibore.
The signing and formalization of the agreement was attended by CoG Vice Chairperson H.E Ahmed Abdullahi, Chairperson of the CoG Health Committee H.E Muthomi Njuki, and KUCO leadership led by their National Chairman Peterson Wachira.

The clinical officers’ strike began on April 1, 2024, a situation which greatly affected the operations of health facilities in the country. KUCO members had withdrawn their services to demand the conclusion of negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), employment on permanent and pensionable terms, promotion of officers, employment of new officers, and the posting of clinical officer interns.
Speaking during the signing of the agreement, governors expressed their commitment to ensure effective health service delivery and thanked Kuco leaders for calling of the strike.

“We appreciate the crucial role of clinical officers in healthcare and we urge you to be on the frontline in educating the masses regarding registration for the new Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF),”noted Governor Muthomi Njuki.