Petitions to ouster LSK leadership rejected

LSK President Allen Gichuhi (left) and other council members during the Special General meeting of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) at the Intercontinental Hotel,Nairobi. [Elvis Ogina.Standard]

Petitions to oust Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Allen Gichuhi, General Membership Representative Roseline Odede and LSK Chief Executive Officer Mercy Wambua were thrown out during the Special General Meeting (SGM) on Saturday.

A motion filed by an advocate Sylvester Mbithi failed to get a seconder when he rose and presented it to the meeting.

The motion to remove Gichuhi cited his ineligibility to run for President on account that they had served as a council member under the old LSK Act.

However, in his motion, Mr Mbithi failed to cite the exact provisions of the law that he was relying to oust the LSK President.

A source at the meeting who did not want to be quoted said that the young lawyers dismissed the motion and insisted that only the draft regulations to govern the Society be discussed.

“The motion was dismissed by youngest lawyers who felt that of importance was the draft regulations which discussed and also unveiled the first practice manual that will assist advocates in running their law firms,” said the source.

Similarly, several other motions were not deliberated including the motion aimed at ousting the LSK CEO Mercy Wambua from office and other council members.

“Members agreed that the same were inadmissible and that the only agenda for the day was the draft regulations,” added the source.

Gichuhi who came to the office in February this year, said that the society made a milestone in passing the draft regulations and for patiently going through them for 10 hours.

“We deliberated the regulations from 9.50 am till about 8 pm. I am proud of the interactive discussions and wonderful interventions by colleagues. Everyone had an opportunity to contribute and enrich the regulations. We have a great future as a society when we engage each other with dignity and honor,” said Gichuhi.

 “The Society will now be able to deliver its mandate effectively and efficiently with the passage of the LSK regulations 2018 with several amendments. With the passage, we now wait for the adoption by parliament,” said one of the lawyers who supported throwing out the petitions.

In a marathon meeting that lasted 11 hours and attended by 1,200 advocates, lawyers passed the regulations which were the first since 1962.

At the SGM, a controversial proposal to introduce electronic voting was also passed in a tight contest, a move that now opens the body to conduct future elections through electronic voting as opposed to the current manual voting that is conducted by the Electoral agency.

The lawyers did not make consideration on the LSK International Arbitration Centre Legal Audit Report for adoption.

“The SGM did not consider two motions received from the LSK Development and Investment Committee on re-development and construction of a modern office block at LSK headquarters on Gitanga Road Plot,” said a source who attended the meeting.

During a meeting to plan for the SGM, the council instructed Wambua to institute an internal investigation within seven days into the circumstances under which the documents the petitioner relied on were leaked.

If the internal investigations do not yield any fruits, council instructed Ms Wambua to invite the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to find the culprit.