Auditor-General queries IEBC's Sh2.14 billion legal fees

Auditor General Edward Ouko has questioned the electoral body's payment of Sh2.14 billion in legal fees.

According to a report tabled in Parliament Tuesday, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was unable to account for the money, which it claims was used to pay 68 advocates that represented it in the presidential and other petitions as legal fees.

Mr Ouko, in his report, noted that the commission, as at June 2013, had outstanding pending bills relating to legal fees totalling Sh1.05 billion and questioned why the polls body went ahead to pay them more than Sh2 billion.

"A sample test of the 68 advocates that the commission instructed to represent it reveals that they have been paid Sh2.14 billion as part of the pending bills since June 2013," reads the report.

"The procurement and payment of these private legal services were done without the approval of the Attorney-General, contrary to the law. IEBC has not provided documentary evidence of the cases represented and the payments made to support the payments in excess of the pending bills," adds the report.

Africanews

AEP

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