Nzamba was titan of justice

Nzamba Kitonga

Former Committee of Experts (CoE) chairman Nzamba Kitonga. He collapsed and died on October 24, 2020.   

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • Nzamba’s service to the legal profession and dedication to justice leaves an indelible mark on Kenya, East Africa and Comesa countries.
  • He was a great humanist who held a strong sense of human rights, commitment to the rule of law and promotion of access to justice.

As word of Philip Nzamba Kitonga’s death spread on Saturday night, a trail of tributes and messages poured in from the leadership of the nation, the legal fraternity and friends. That was a reflection of who Nzamba Kitonga SC (he never adored use of the first name of Philip) was.

It is ironical that in writing a tribute for an icon like Nzamba, one encounters the challenge of selecting from the seemingly endless achievements as opposed to searching for significant accomplishments. When one looks at a combination of the person of Nzamba and his trailblazing in the legal profession, the inevitable conclusion is that he has been much more than the sum of his achievements.

It is an understatement to say that Kenya has lost a legal mind of historic stature. Nzamba’s service to the legal profession and dedication to justice leaves an indelible mark on Kenya, East Africa and Comesa countries. Similarly, his persona is the opposite of what our beloved country lacks, to wit, humility, love for justice, integrity, patriotism and servant leadership.

One of the great joys of my life is that I was privileged to know and learn from Nzamba SC. As was characteristic of him, despite our age difference both professionally and epoch, I shared Nzamba’s friendship and history.

If it were not for his mentorship some 22 years back, I probably may not have had the aspirations to get involved in the leadership of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK). Although I knew him by virtue of the fact that we come from the same county, the first time I engaged him as a professional colleague is in the year 1997.

Success story

 During that time, he was running for the presidency of the LSK. Since there were no open campaigns by candidates, he asked me to put a good word for him among my young colleagues. He was elected chairman.

Nzamba’s professional journey from a young lawyer in Mombasa, his involvement in the politics of LSK, his subsequent ascendancy to the leadership of East Africa Law Society (EALS) and Pan African Lawyers Union (Palu), as a judge President of the Comesa court, which was decorated with various professional accolades,is the quintessential success story for the patriarch. He started his career by opening a law firm in Kitui town.

According to Mr Paul Wamae SC, Nzamba’s leadership skills were shaped in 1995 when he served as a council member under Wamae’s chairmanship. Wamae SC told me that Nzamba was very active in the activities of LSK, a fact that influenced Wamae SC to bless his candidature for the position of chairman.

He later became the third president of the EALS where he worked with another Kenyan lawyer, Don Deya, who was then the CEO. He was also actively involved in the leadership of Palu — a continental lawyer’s body.

In recognition of his outstanding service to the legal profession, he was conferred the rank of Senior Counsel (SC) by former President Mwai Kibaki in the year 2003. During the 2005 Goldenberg inquiry, Nzamba SC served as the Vice-Chairman of the Commission. In 2004 he was awarded the “Law Society Roll of Honour”.

We all remember that the making process of the 2010 Constitution was characterised by about 30 years of political, social and legal disagreements. It took the intervention of the Committee of Experts (CoE) under the able leadership of Nzamba SC for a rebirth of the nation following promulgation of the Constitution.

During her brief address to the public, at the Lee Funeral home on Sunday, Dr Atsango Chesoni praised Nzamba for having summoned all his social and legal skills to navigate the complex and competing interests in review of the constitution.

Comesa Treaty

Outside the Kenyan jurisdiction, Nzamba is referred to as “His Lordship Justice Nzamba Kitonga SC”. He was the first and immediate former President of the two-tier Comesa court, where he served between the years 2005 to 2015. The court’s jurisdiction is to deal with matters arising out of the interpretation or implementation of the Comesa Treaty and any disputes that arise.

During his professional life, which spans slightly over 40 years, Nzamba SC left footprints as a top scholar, a distinguished legal luminary and a constitutional law stalwart. He was a great humanist who held a strong sense of human rights, commitment to the rule of law and promotion of access to justice. This earned him the ICJ Jurist of the Year award in 2010.

 In almost all instances when the state or political elite violated human rights or the rule of law, either Nzamba SC or myself would pick the phone and talk about it. Few Kenyans match the person of Nzamba SC when it comes to the need for respect of constitutionalism and the rule of law. 

What was unique about Nzamba SC is that he was ready to, and indeed, represented all manner of clients. He did not choose his clients. I’m aware of one case, which he handled, involving a dispute over one cow.  When the junior advocate on the other side lamented that Nzamba SC should not handle such “small” matters, his response was priceless.

He told us that in the context of social and economic circumstances, the said matter, which he was handling, was of equal value and importance to his client in equal measure to two disputant multinational companies involved in a multi-billion legal dispute. He told us that in order to buy the said cow, his client had saved money from his monthly salary for over three years.

Commercial lawyer

Nzamba SC was the antithesis of the hubristic commercial lawyer, who approaches disputes from a privileged and elevated perch as influenced by their client’s status.

Outside the profession, Nzamba led a varied and rich life. He socialised with friends and the public at large. His social friends would often joke about his strictness when it comes to “splitting bills.”

They would tell him how they wished that when it comes to paying bills, he would exhibit the same vigour that he does while championing justice and the rule of law.

He ventured into politics in the year 2013 when he run for Kitui gubernatorial seat. His son and daughter, both lawyers, are following in the footsteps of his father, with one running his law office and the other dealing with governance issues and the rule of law.

I am certain that Nzamba SC would have very much liked to see a robust and informed debate on the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) to review the constitution. Perhaps, in engaging in such debate, we would be paying tribute to Nzamba SC in a manner that matters to him.