Kiplenge & Kurgat Advocates demanded the money after the Land and Environment Court in Nyeri slapped the costs of the eight-year court battle on the community.
The 248 members of the community had sued the former president for transferring 17,105-acre property in Laikipia North to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), claiming it was their ancestral land.
A Nakuru-based law firm that represented former president Daniel arap Moi in a land dispute case pitting him against members of the Samburu community wants Sh40.6 million from the nomadic pastoralists.
Kiplenge & Kurgat Advocates demanded the money after the Land and Environment Court in Nyeri slapped the costs of the eight-year court battle on the community.
The 248 members of the community had sued the former president for transferring 17,105-acre property in Laikipia North to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), claiming it was their ancestral land.
They accused Mr Moi of transferring ownership of the Eland downs alias Kabarak Farm to the KWS at a cost of Sh400 million in 2011 and later to Africa Wildlife Foundation (AWF) without considering their fate. Mr Moi’s lawyers appeared in court 107 times from March 15, 2010, to July 24, 2017.
The community’s lawyer, Suyianka Lempaa, was served with the bill of cost Wednesday, four months after a Nairobi-based law firm, Kaplan & Stratton Advocates, also served him with an invoice of Sh11.8 million.
Kaplan & Stratton Advocates was representing the US-based wildlife charity group, AWF, which the court declared the rightful owner of the disputed land.
Justice Lucy Waithaka also ruled that the community should bear the legal costs of the protracted battle.
However, Mr Lempaa opposed the legal fee by the two law firms, saying it was excessive.
While appearing before Nyeri High Court division deputy registrar Irene Muthee on Wednesday, the lawyer added that the bills should be consolidated.
He questioned why the Moi lawyers were demanding four times the cost that was demanded by the AWF advocates.
“The costs are arising from one judgment. Therefore, they should be consolidated and be addressed together. KWS is yet to file its bill of cost,” said Mr Lempaa.
The case came to the public limelight on March 10, 2016, after Justice Waithaka ordered the community to hire helicopters for judicial officers and lawyers involved in the case to tour the site.
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