Editorials

Reduce suits against State

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The government must take stern action against officials who violate the law and expose taxpayers to liability for contract breaches, unlawful dismissals, human rights violations and other missteps that end up in court.

The revelation that the potential liability exposure on law suits against the State has hit Sh1.2 trillion must serve as a wakeup call for government to get rid of workers who are taking a laissez-faire approach to their responsibilities.

Such cases force the government to spend huge sums of money contracting lawyers to represent the country in local and international courts.

Awards against the government are a cost to taxpayers since ministries and state agencies are forced to redirect money that would have otherwise been used to provide public services.

The rising law suits also paint the government agencies as institutions that are not keen on observing the very law that it expects citizens to follow.

Officials who waste taxpayers’ money due to a laissez-faire attitude must therefore not be allowed to go scot-free.