The Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) has welcomed a High Court ruling that temporarily blocks government entities from hiring private advocates and law firms, calling it a crucial step toward safeguarding public resources and strengthening in-house legal capacity.
The conservatory order, issued on Monday, halts the engagement, procurement, and payment of external legal services by national and county governments, state corporations, and parastatals. The ruling comes pending the hearing of a constitutional petition filed by Dr. Benjamin Gikenyi Magare, Senator Okiya Omtatah, and others.
COTU Warns Against Wasteful Outsourcing
In a statement on Wednesday, COTU criticized the widespread outsourcing of legal services, describing it as a serious governance failure that drains taxpayers’ money.
The trade union’s Secretary-General, Francis Atwoli, said outsourcing external legal services demoralizes in-house lawyers and threatens the sustainability of public institutions.
“Billions of Kenyan shillings have been sunk into private law firms that continue to issue outrageous fee notes to public institutions financed by taxpayers’ money, even as working conditions, collective bargaining agreements, pensions, and service delivery continue being affected,” Atwoli said.
COTU further noted that in many cases, government entities pay private practitioners more than employees earn in public institutions.
“The craze in outsourcing legal services by national and county governments, state corporations and parastatals only points to the fact that private law firms have become conduits of corruption being used by public institutions,” the union added.
Public Institutions Should Rely on In-House Professionals
COTU argued that where public institutions cannot handle certain legal matters, cases should be forwarded to the Office of the Attorney General. The union said this would allow public sector legal professionals to exercise their expertise while being held accountable for their work.
“…even as their continuous training and terms and conditions of service are improved to match the competitive market rates so as to retain top-cadre legal professionals within the public service,” COTU said.
Court Halts Payments to Private Law Firms
The High Court directed the Controller of Budget (CoB) not to approve any payments to private advocates or law firms until the matter is fully determined.
The ruling has sparked pushback from Kenya’s legal sector. The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) described the order as a sustained effort to marginalize private practitioners from public sector work.
The society said the case reflects a recurring trend aimed at excluding private advocates from government legal briefs, despite past court rulings affirming fair and competitive procurement of legal services.
“We strongly oppose this ill-advised move and urge those involved to reconsider this overzealous upheaval of legal practice,” LSK said.
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