LSK council suspends Nelson Havi over failed leadership

The Council of the Law Society of Kenya has suspended its President, Nelson Havi, accusing him of failing as a leader.

In a decision on Monday, eight members of the council said they have lost confidence in Mr Havi’s leadership.

They moved to suspend him, pending an Annual General Meeting next, at which members will decide whether to remove or retain him.

“In the interim, having lost confidence in him: no scintilla of confidence remaining, we acted to conserve the best interest of the members, the rule of law, public interest and the reputation of the society,” the council said.

“Suspending him is a mammoth task but the interests of the members of the society outweighs his individual interests.”

The accusations

Mr Havi was suspended for reasons including failing the leadership and integrity test, bringing dishonour and disrepute to the society and the dignity of office of its president, and causing it to lose face nationally and internationally.

The eight council members said his conduct during the Special General Meeting on January 18 was “underwhelming, if not pathetic”.

They said the chaos at the meeting made news headlines that day and featured prominently on social media platform, bringing the society to great disrepute.

During the SGM held at the LSK’s Gitanga Road offices in Nairobi, members present voted to suspend all council members.  The meeting later turned chaotic and was characterized by shouting matches.

Lawyer Adrian Kamotho later moved to court and successfully convinced it to reverse the decision to suspend the council.

The council members accused Mr Havi of failing to act honestly and in the best interest of the society and causing it financial losses.

They also accused him of suppressing the more than 3,000 members from voting online, resulting in a disastrous SGM that they said cost millions of shillings.

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