The Parliamentary Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs says this stands against pending awards against the State of Sh81 billion putting the public purse in a precarious situation.
At Sh1.2 trillion, the amount is 12 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) or the equivalent of 71 percent of the country’s annual taxes.
Some of the pending bills arose from suits filed by victims of torture who won multimillion-shilling awards.
The value of legal suits with financial risks facing the Kenyan government has risen to Sh1.2 trillion, in what promises to make awardees wait even longer to get compensation, a new parliamentary report warns.
The Parliamentary Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs says this stands against pending awards against the State of Sh81 billion putting the public purse in a precarious situation.
At Sh1.2 trillion, the amount is 12 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) or the equivalent of 71 percent of the country’s annual taxes or the equivalent of Kenya’s total debt to the World Bank.
“The committee observed that there are suits against the government with financial risks to the tune of Sh1.2 trillion,” said the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs.
Some of the pending bills arose from suits filed by victims of torture who won multimillion-shilling awards. Others are from arbitration cases against companies.
“There have been positive steps taken in addressing the pending court awards through an inter-ministerial committee chaired by the Solicitor-General to address this perennial challenge and the recommendations are awaiting Cabinet consideration,” says the Committee.
In 2020, multiparty hero Kenneth Matiba was awarded Sh978 million by the High Court as compensation for torture during the Moi era and the amount at the moment exceeds Sh1.5 billion, including interest.
Matiba, a former Kiharu MP, died in 2019 aged 85 after battling long illness.
He suffered a stroke while in detention on May 26, 1991, during the administration of the then President Daniel Arap Moi, and State officials at the time did not bother to get him medical attention and he remained in that state for a week while in incarceration.
Documents filed in court by the administrators showed Mr Matiba left property valued at Sh732 million, although the amount is set to rise following the High Court award.
In seeking compensation when he first filed the case, Mr Matiba had argued that he lost investments worth Sh5 billion following his detention.
Mr Matiba, who unsuccessfully tried to unseat the then President Moi in the 1992 election, also lost public trading shares worth Sh329 million and dividends amounting to Sh210 million.
Moi, who ruled Kenya for 24 years, died in 2020.
In 2010, Kenya’s High Court ruled that Kenyan authorities had violated the fundamental rights of 21 former political prisoners subjected to torture, awarding them Sh40 million in compensation.
The former prisoners were held during the 1980s and were subjected to torture in the Nyayo torture chambers.
And in 2017, seven victims of police brutality were awarded Sh28 million for the suffering they underwent two decades ago.
