LSK elections marred by nomination protests
Senior Counsel Kalonzo Musyoka, who is also the party leader of Wiper Democratic Movement, votes at the Milimani Law Courts, Nairobi, on March 10, 2022.
What you need to know:
- Sixty-four candidates were contesting nine seats for 2022/24 in the LSK Council.
- Council, female representative to the JSC and Advocates’ Disciplinary Committee officials elected.
The Law Society of Kenya elections were marred by nomination woes yesterday as more than 12,000 members trooped to the polls across the country to pick new officials.
Sixty-four candidates were contesting nine seats for 2022/24 in the LSK Council. The top decision-making organ has, in the past two years, been riddled by wrangles and divisions. The LSK Elections Board (2022) was thus in a spot for how it handled the nomination of non-practising lawyers employed in state offices.
Only those with 2021 practising certificates were allowed to vote. There were 28 polling centres at select High Court stations.
According to court papers, the board blocked a counsel attached to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) from vying for upcountry representative.
Interestingly, the board cleared three non-practising lawyers working with government agencies to run for the position of LSK female representative to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
They were Jacqueline Ingutiah, Anna Konuche and Christine Kipsang. Attempts to remove them from the contest flopped after the High Court struck out a petition by lawyer Clifford Keya.
The nomination of prosecutor Jamlick Muriithi Mwenda was rejected on the basis of his employment at the ODPP. He had written to the LSK seeking clarification on the status of the members serving at the offices of the DPP and the Attorney-General, as he was desirous of vying for the post of upcountry representative.
But the LSK Branch Chairs Caucus said it was a weighty legal issue that needed the intervention of a general meeting. It undertook to place the matter before the next annual general meeting.
LSK feuds
Aggrieved by the decision, Mr Mwenda ignored the internal dispute resolution mechanism and rushed to court, where his bid to compel the board to clear him was dismissed on a technicality.
Besides council positions and female representative to the JSC, members voted to elect officials to the Advocates’ Disciplinary Committee.
Former LSK vice president Carolyne Kamende, Mr Bernhard Ng’etich, Mr Mathew Nyabena, Mr Omwanza Ombati and Mr Eric Theuri sought to replace former president Nelson Havi. Most members had preferred a candidate with experience at the Supreme Court.
Those seeking the position of vice president were Ajwang Debra, Boniface Akusala, David Nyamweya and Faith Odhiambo.
Candidates seeking the position of LSK female representative to the JSC were Ms Julie Soweto, Ms Jane Nyaboke, Ms Mercy Atieno, Ms Ingutiah, Ms Konuche and Ms Kipsang. The position arose following the exit of Ms Mercy Deche, whose five-year term expired last year.
The election marked the end of the feuds that saw the LSK fail to fully take part in last year’s interviews and selection of Chief Justice and Supreme Court judge by the JSC. It was represented by one member (Macharia Njeru – male representative), instead of two.
The election of female representative had been scheduled for March 25 but did not take place after a court suspended implementation of resolutions passed during a special general meeting that was mired in chaos.
