Ambrose Rachier, a top lawyer in Nairobi, once suggested that all those infected with HIV be incarcerated and the keys thrown in the abyss. About 25 years later, he is their champion. He spoke to PETER MUIRURI
The first HIV and Aids case was reported in Kenya in 1984. Back then, nobody wanted to talk about the disease and many termed the unfolding scourge a curse. Victims were treated as social outcasts.
Ambrose Rachier |
But then, that is the nature of the straight shooting Rachier, the founder and senior partner of Rachier and Amollo Advocates.
When he made those comments, Rachier had not foreseen that 25 years later, he would be at the forefront in leading the fight against discrimination to persons living with the disease. He has chaired several taskforces geared towards protection of the rights of people living with HIV including the HIV and Aids Equity Tribunal in Kenya—the first of its kind globally.
Policy framework
"My comments on the epidemic were obviously not based on an informed viewpoint. I was just talking like all the others who had no clue on how to handle the ‘new thing.’ Even the Government had no policy framework on the disease," says Rachier.
Rachier’s entry into the world was even more dramatic. On December 1, 1949, his mother, Lydia Aoko boarded a train from Kisumu to join her husband Hezron Rachier at St Paul’s Theological College in Limuru. Lydia was then expecting her second child, Rachier. On approaching Molo station during nightfall, the child in the womb could no longer wait and Rachier was born on a moving train!
"Elijah Ominde who worked in Molo saved my mother. He took us to his home till my mother gained strength. Ominde is still my great friend," recalls Rachier.
The second born in a family of 12, Rachier grew up in Gem, Siaya County and says his lifestyle has been shaped by his experiences as a young boy. For a boy who did not mind playing football naked in the rain, schooling remained a painful experience.
"Imagine trekking for miles daily, sometimes in rain. However, this was more than compensated by lumping nyoyo (boiled maize and beans) in one pocket and sweet potatoes in the other," says Rachier.
Rachier’s greatest object of fear was his father. Poor school performance, neglecting cattle, visiting the neighbours or even the thought of attending village dances were the greatest sins.
"If dad learnt that you were not among the top three in class or that you had failed to take the cows for grazing during school breaks, he would come to school, drag you out of the class and cane your bare bottoms in full view of all," says Rachier.
His mother, then a primary school teacher, was the very opposite: a loving, caring woman, who preferred dialogue to the cane.
That was the kind of discipline that saw him through elementary schooling both in the local Sinaga Primary School and later Ramba Boarding School in Rarieda. He got good grades and enrolled in a national school. His initial goal was to join Alliance High School but he found himself admitted at the secondary school division of Kenyatta College in 1965. Here, Rachier would rub shoulders with other great legal minds such as Lee Muthoga, Musyoka Annan and John Mwera.
His desire to study at Alliance would materialise in 1969 when he was enrolled there for his ‘A’ Levels. It was also at Alliance that Rachier, together with Lands minister James Orengo, studied French.
"This was a two-man class doing French that eventually earned me a one-year scholarship to further my studies in French in Madagascar," says Rachier who holds a Diploma in French from the University of Madagascar. He later studied at the University of Dar es Salaam and graduated with a Bachelor of Law Degree in 1974. At Dar es Salaam, he would meet with people who would later shape the region’s legal and political landscape.
Among his lecturers there was Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika. There was also Uganda President Yoweri Museveni. Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete was a year behind Rachier. From Kenya, his year-mates included two former heads of the civil service, Phares Kuindwa and Dr Sally Kosgei.
Rachier was admitted to the bar in July 1975.
"Finding employment was difficult. To begin with, I had no home in Nairobi and had to live in a small house in Kaloleni with an uncle who was a waiter at the Stanley Hotel. I would go to Makadara Law Courts every morning and hawk my services," says Rachier.
He would later work with former judge Richard Kwach between 1975 and 1978 before becoming a partner in Oraro and Rachier Advocates. He later formed Rachier and Amollo Advocates, a leading conveyance, commercial and corporate law firm.
In 2002, Rachier was called upon to draft the now infamous power sharing MoU between the leading lights in the Narc Party.
"I came up with the document that was signed by all the parties. Needless to say that nobody bothered with the document after the elections," says Rachier.
Away from law, Rachier has pioneered many reforms on the fight against HIV and Aids culminating in the passing of the HIV and Aids Prevention and Control Act. His appointment as chair to the afore-mentioned tribunal is aimed at helping promote laws and policies that advance human rights and fundamental freedoms for persons living with HIV and Aids.
"The tribunal has the power to collect evidence, hear witnesses, conduct hearings and even pass judgments," says Rachier.
Rachier is also the influential chair of Gor Mahia Football Club. He has managed to turn around the fortunes of the club that has collected several local trophies including the Super Cup Winners in 2009, the Second Men’s Overall ports Team of the Year 2010 and FKL winners 2011. Despite initiating several development projects in Gem including the successful Rabuor/Sinaga Community Fund, the father of seven categorically asserts he has no political ambitions.
