Don’t blame us, Wafula Chebukati firm says on land case payments

Nominated Chair of IEBC Wafula Chebukati who was managing patner of Cootow & Associates. (Photo: Courtesy)

A law firm associated with one of the nominees for the electoral commission jobs is not to blame for loss of public funds following its inability to defend a public interest case in court.

Cootow & Associates, where Wafula Chebukati was a managing partner until he was nominated to chair the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) last month, distanced itself from blame on Sh325 million paid to a private firm which claimed ownership of Westlands market in Nairobi.

The payment was ordered by a court after the law firm failed to defend Nairobi County Government which also claimed ownership of the land. But the law firm says failure to defend the suit cannot be blamed on it.

“Our inability to handle the matter effectively was beyond our control,” the law firm said in a letter to The Standard which first published the claims.

According to court records, the county claimed Cootow’s letters seeking instructions to defend the suit were delivered to its front office but never reached the legal department. The law firm says no complaint was filed with the Law Society of Kenya (LSK)  against them, that there is no suit of professional negligence filed against them and that Nairobi County has not raised the issue with them.

It quoted part of the judgment of Justice Mary Gitumbi which appeared to exonerate them: “It appears that even the counsel for the defendants were frustrated by the failure of the defendants to give them instructions on how to defend this suit.”