How lawyers, union and insiders siphoned millions from counties

Kenya County Government Workers Union Secretary General Roba S Duba. [File, Standard] 

A fresh petition filed at the High Court has lifted the lid on a sophisticated network of lawyers, union officials and county government insiders allegedly used to siphon billions of shillings from county governments.

The lawsuit filed at the Milimani High Court’s Constitutional and Human Rights Division has unearthed what petitioners describe as a well-coordinated scheme to defraud counties through fictitious court cases, proxy law firms, ghost workers and fraudulent legal fees, with public funds running into the billions already claimed or at risk.

At the centre of the petition is former Nairobi Town Clerk and now Kenya County Government Workers Union Secretary General Roba S Duba and his son, Advocate Abdirizak Roba Duba, who are accused of orchestrating what the petitioners term a “Proxy Law Firm Syndicate” operating across Bungoma, Nairobi and Marsabit counties.

“Roba Sharu Duba and his son Advocate Abdiriza have formulated an unethical and high-level syndicate that has led to laundering of public funds through fictitious cases, self-dealings, and gross violations of the Conflict of Interest Act,” the petition states.

The four petitioners led by Bernard Barasa Wakwabubi, Vice Chairperson of the Bungoma Branch of the County Government Workers Union allege that the network operated through multiple law firms linked to the same individuals, some allegedly unregistered, to secure legal work from county governments while simultaneously filing suits against those same institutions.

Bungoma County alone risks losing Sh3.026 billion to a fraudulent scheme to introduce ghost workers onto the public payroll, the petitioners claim, while Nairobi City County has already haemorrhaged over Sh300 million in legal fees to fictitious litigation briefs. Court documents allege that Roba while serving as General Secretary of the union and simultaneously sitting on the Board of the Local Authorities Provident Fund (LAPFUND), issued recommendation letters empanelling at least three law firms all controlled by his son advocate Abdirizak without disclosing the familial relationship.

The five impugned law firms linked to the alleged Scheme are Roba & Associates Advocates LLP, Mwiti Abdirizak and Odero Advocates LLP (MAO Advocates), Njuguna Mwaura & Co. Advocates, Mwaura Benedict Njuguna and Company Advocates; and James Oketch & Company Advocates.

Interestingly, three of the firms namely Roba & Associates, MAO Advocates and Njuguna Mwaura & Co. share the same postal address, despite operating from different physical offices across Nairobi.

Abdirizak is listed as a registered proprietor or partner in at least four of the entities. Beyond the five registered firms, the petition identifies a sixth entity, Mathenge Mwiti Advocates, which it describes as wholly unregistered yet actively filing court pleadings and receiving public instructions.

“This unregistered entity is operated directly by Advocate Peter Oginga Ochieng, Ian Mwiti Mathenge, Benedict Njuguna Mwaura and Abdirizak Roba Duba,” the petitioners state.

The court filings also accuse the alleged syndicate of using proxies and paid petitioners to institute strategic cases in court.

“Victor Odhiambo Miruka is said to be an employee of the Judiciary Research team and or person with connections within the court corridors, hence capable of procuring urgent orders from courts provided his name appears as a party in petitions or suits filed by the syndicate,” the petition alleges.

The Bungoma ghost workers scheme which sits at the heart of the financial jeopardy. However, the petitioners want the court to quash judgment delivered on May 13, 2020 in Bungoma ELRC Petition No. 1 of 2019, through which 463 alleged casual workers were ordered absorbed into permanent county employment.

The case also named Moses Maelo Muyundi, a retired Bungoma County employee whom the petitioners accuse of acting as a paid foot soldier of the syndicate by filing fraudulent affidavits in the matter.

Muyundi is accused of falsely holding himself out as an active union shop steward despite having retired in April 2016. The petition claims the list of 463 beneficiaries was deliberately falsified.

At least 116 of those listed carry national identity card numbers in the 32-to-39 series, which were only issued after 2013, meaning the individuals were minors when they were allegedly employed.

Fourteen others are said to be biological children of Muyundi himself. A Human Resource Taskforce Audit conducted in October 2022 found that 403 persons were issued permanent appointment letters despite having no record of ever working as casuals and not appearing on the original court-awarded list.

In Nairobi, the petitioners allege that the County Executive Committee Member for Finance authorised payments of over Sh 410 million to 17 law firms between February and March 2021 for what they describe as fictitious briefs, before any formal investigation had commenced.

In one case, ELRC Petition No. E206 of 2021, court documents allege that Lawyer Abdirizak appeared for the petitioner through MAO Advocates while his other firm, Roba & Associates Advocates LLP, simultaneously represented Nairobi City County as respondent in the same proceedings.

“The said Advocates filed a fictitious suit against their own clients and proceeded to defend the same county using their other firms, ensuring no genuine defence was mounted,” court papers allege.

The petition also implicates Advocate Bokayo Guyo Halake, who is said to serve simultaneously as Principal Legal Counsel for Marsabit County and as an associate of Roba & Associates Advocates LLP, which the petitioners describe as a textbook conflict of interest.

They are seeking an order compelling Halake to step aside from her official county role pending investigations.

Among the more serious allegations is one involving lawyer Ian Mwiti Mathenge, a partner in MAO Advocates.

The petition claims that at the time he was filing court pleadings in Kenya, he was simultaneously employed full-time by the United States-headquartered law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and serving as a lecturer at Chuka University, all while practising through entities not registered with the Registrar of Companies and allegedly without a valid practising certificate in 2022 and 2023.

The petition additionally accuses Advocates Sharon Atieno and Abdirizak Roba Duba of colluding to alter court judgments, reducing awarded sums and issuing tampered versions to litigants.

The petitioners are seeking 33 orders, including injunctions barring Nairobi, Marsabit, LAPFUND and the KCGWU from processing any payments to the impugned law firms or their proxies.

Further, they seek orders directing the Law Society of Kenya to suspend the five firms and institute disciplinary proceedings and an order directing Hon. Roba to step aside as LAPFUND board member pending investigations and court orders a forensic audit report.

Justice Roselyne Aburili has since certified the petition as urgent, ordered the four petitioners to serve all respondents with the pleadings before mention on June 15, 2026.