Parliament has ordered the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) to name every official behind a contentious Ksh342.8 million payout to a law firm.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

This was after a committee meeting of the National Assembly's Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy, chaired by Pokot South MP David Pkosing, which now wants a full report from the IRA detailing how it engages external advocates going forward.

The Committee is also pushing for clarity on the prequalification requirements the Authority uses before bringing in outside lawyers to fight its legal battles.

“The MPs also asked the IRA to furnish the Committee with details of the officials who oversaw the contractual agreement between the law firm and the Agency at the time,” the committee stated.

📌 What You Need to Know

Beyond that, the Committee wants an update on the actual state of the IRA's internal legal department and why outside counsel was needed at all.

MPs also demanded a full list of the officials who oversaw the contractual arrangement with the law firm right from the very start.

At the heart of the storm is a legal fees dispute that dragged on for three years between IRA and a law firm it had hired.

IRA had procured the firm to defend it in a case brought by a liquidated insurance company, but the two sides never agreed on final fees, with the advocate wanting Ksh176.1 million based on the liquidated firm's claim, yet IRA was only willing to offer Ksh875,197 in return.

The insurance body challenged the ruling but lost its bid for a stay of execution, and every later attempt at mediation between the two parties collapsed too.

Frustrated by the delay, the law firm went after IRA's bank account, securing a legal tool issued by a court to collect money owed by a debtor from a third party, commonly known as garnishee orders , which first released Ksh15 million, then the balance owed.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke