A Nairobi court has suspended an order requiring Governor Mike Sonko’s government to pay a law firm that supplied it with printing materials Sh 6.2 million.
Chief magistrate Edna Nyaloti on Thursday set aside the orders obtained by Ondabu and Advocates Company after Sonko told the court they were wrongfully obtained.
The orders had required the county’s Cooperative Bank Account, City hall branch to release the money to the law firm following a consent order.
But Sonko told the court the consent was entered without the county’s approval.
“The consent issued on April 16, 2018, is hereby set aside pending an inter-parties hearing of this application,” the Magistrate ruled.
Sonko accused the law firm of colluding with Borabu Mp Ben Momanyi, the lawyer who was representing the county in the matter between it and General Suppliers Limited.
Momanyi, however, dismissed
Sonko's claims that he conspired with a claimant and entered into
a consent
to pay the money without the county's knowledge.
He said that Sonko's accusations are political and unfortunate because he has no reason to collude with anyone to steal from the county.
General Suppliers limited had moved to court demanding payment from the county, but on Monday, April 16, even before the matter was resolved, Momanyi entered a consent with the law firm agreeing that the county would pay Sh 6,234,829.65
On April 17, the County’s acting chief Finance officer Ekaya Alumasi advised the county to forward the matter to the Pending Bill Committee which is still undertaking verification of all unclear bills, for scrutiny
The Bank alerted the county on Wednesday informing it that it had received a garnishee order requiring it to release the funds to the law firm of Ondabu advocates, prompting the governor to move to court.
According to the finance officer, PFM Act 2012 requires all revenue collected by the county government be swept to Central Bank of Kenya and further mandates the controller of Budget to approve all payments drawn from the County revenue account.
The magistrate has directed parties to appear before her on April 25.