Laban Omusundi….Photo /courtesy

NAIROBI, Kenya

A governance activist has petitioned the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) seeking urgent regulatory intervention on the remuneration of advocates engaged by public institutions, arguing that loopholes in the current legal framework have led to inflated fees and loss of public funds.

Omusundi, who describes himself as “The Serial Petitioner,”said that he formally lodged the petition before the SRC calling for strict enforcement and harmonization of legal fees payable from public coffers in line with Article 230 of the Constitution of Kenya.

In his petition, Omusundi argues that the application of the Advocates Remuneration Order contains gaps that are “routinely exploited to inflate legal fees,” resulting in what he termed the siphoning of billions of shillings under the guise of legal services.

“It has become evident that the current application of the Advocates Remuneration Order contains loopholes that are routinely exploited to inflate legal fees, leading to the siphoning of billions of shillings under the guise of legal services,” he said in a statement.

He contends that the practice undermines fiscal discipline and violates Article 201 of the Constitution, which sets out principles of prudent and responsible use of public resources.

Omusundi is asking the commission to strictly supervise and structure all payments for legal services drawn from public funds under a transparent and constitutionally guided remuneration framework.

“All payments for legal services drawn from public coffers must strictly conform to a transparent, structured and constitutionally supervised remuneration framework under SRC oversight,” he said.

He warned that failure by the commission to take what he described as decisive action would prompt him to seek judicial intervention to close the alleged loopholes and safeguard public funds.

The SRC has not yet publicly responded to the petition.