The chief government legal adviser will approve all commercial contracts drawn by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) before they proceed to commit the government, Attorney-General nominee Justin Muturi told Parliament.
Mr Muturi said if approved for appointment, all government entities will be compelled to involve the State Law Office before entering into any agreement with third parties.
He told a vetting panel that most contracts are entered into by individual ministries without the knowledge of the AG who only gets to be involved after multi-billion shilling contracts fail. “Moving forward, there will be a need for all ministries and departments to involve the AG in the processes leading to the signing of the contracts. It will be a requirement that the Attorney General’s office is consulted before entering into any commercial contracts,” Mr Muturi said while answering questions from the Committee on Appointments.
Mr Muturi wants Parliament to allocate the Attorney General’s office resources to implement an integrated legal management system like Treasury’s cash management service-- Ifmis-- to track all contracts before agencies sign them with third parties.
“I will be coming to this House for resources to implement an integrated legal management system. If this is done, it means everything happening in the smallest unit of government will get to the AG immediately before action is taken,” Mr Muturi said.
He appeared before the committee chaired by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula for vetting.
“Going forward, the Constitution mandates the office of the Attorney General as the principal legal adviser and it should be taken seriously by ministries, departments and agencies to avoid losses that impact our economic performance,” he said.
