Court declines to stop construction of Sh1.2 billion Law Society of Kenya Arbitration Centre

Nairobi, Kenya: The High Court has declined to issue orders stopping construction of a Sh1.2 billion Law Society of Kenya (LSK) International Arbitration Centre in Nairobi.

Over 1,000 lawyers, under a certificate of urgency, moved to a Mombasa court to stop LSK from deducting between Sh39,000 and Sh50,000 from them to build the centre in South C, Nairobi.

Instead, the court directed the lawyers to serve LSK and the council members, including their chairman Eric Mutua, with the suit papers.

A similar matter was also filed in Nairobi seeking to stop deductions from members and was certified as urgent by High Court judge Mumbi Ngugi. It will be heard on October 28.

In the petitions, the lawyers argue LSK had failed to give full disclosure of the project, which was likely to put them at risk of paying for a project they were not fully aware of.

They argued LSK was not a business or a profit-making enterprise, adding that after the deductions, the society would still require them to part with more money to repay the loan hence the need for full disclosure by LSK before the project could proceed.

 General Information

The lawyers also faulted the council for having disclosed that in a special general meeting, it had already used about Sh50 million on the project without a ground breaking ceremony or approval by members.

“The LSK council has refused to clearly state and provide concise information on how the money was used. The entire process reeks of a scam hence the reason why the council is unwilling to share with members facts and general information regarding the project,” they submitted.

The advocates argued that they were under imminent threat and it was imperative that they were protected until the controversies surrounding the project were ironed out and there was a full disclosure of facts, transparency and accountability in the manner of arriving at the cost of the project.

They added if LSK was unable to repay the Sh800 million loan, which it intended to borrow from financial institutions and which it has refused to be candid about, then it placed their right to property in jeopardy.

The LSK members want the project halted until the case is determined.