CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Isaac Nyangeri, Kenya, April 1998
THEME = JUSTICE
President arap Moi is stated as saying that Kenya's legal profession is saturated, and has called on local institutions of higher education to discontinue training lawyers
Relationships between the President and lawyers has not been smooth of late. Lawyers have been to the forefront in criticising his twenty-year rule. Could this be the underlying reason why the President is attacking them verbally?
Kenya has a population of about 30 million. Lawyers number over 2,000 with new ones appearing on the scene each year, fresh out of legal schools both at home and abroad. So it's strange that the Attorney-General has hired a number of expatriate lawyers to serve in his chambers. What's the reason for this? Could it be due to the prevailing mentality whereby Kenyans prefer things foreign to the home-spun variety?
Most local lawyers and advocates opt for private practice - having their own law firms, or join existing ones. They tend to keep well- clear of government-sponsored chambers such as those of the Attorney-General. It's a fact that remuneration in private practice is higher than in the public service. In many instances where expatriate lawyers are concerned, these usually receive higher remuneration than their Kenyan counterparts.
So the issue of remuneration gives us an indication where the problem lies - in money.
When students in secondary schools are asked which subjects they're going to choose for their leaving exams, you'll hear them say: "Where the money is!" Many people join the legal profession with the wrong idea of making money. All they really want to do is to make money. Not a bad thing in itself, but when that's the only reason, then the real spirit of the legal profession is wiped clean away!
That's why headings in local newspapers such as "Law firm named in dubious deal", have lost their element of surprise. It is a common occurrence.
Kenya does have a regulating body to determine the fees charged by the lawyers/advocates, as misuse of their client's money is not uncommon. Indeed, a number of lawyers have found themselves in court because they salted away their client's money.
Here's what one Kenyan has to say about the state of his country's legal profession. "Lawyers have long ceased to be legal advisers in the real sense of the word. There's very few of them who are honest enough to advise a client not to file a case when there is little hope of success in the courts".
What happens when one "goes to law". Here's a typical example. A woman's house was demolished by county council employees. In order to get back her confiscated property and to receive compensation for what had been destroyed, she sought the assistance of an advocate. She was required to take him Ksh3,000. On another visit, for reasons unknown to the woman, the advocate said that he would take no action until double the previous amount was paid! The woman pleaded with him, saying that she was prepared to pay the required amount but was not in a position to raise it. She requested the advocate to go ahead with the case and she would pay him once the court had decided on compensation. The advocate wouldn't listen to her and at the time of writing, the case has not yet been resolved - and it's over a year since the woman first tried her luck with the law!
Kenya's legal profession seems to thrive on the abundance of crime, plus mass ignorance about what are really citizens' rights.
At the same time, and it is only right to point this out, lawyers have been to the forefront in calling for improvement in various aspects of Kenya's society. Indeed, they have played a vital role in bringing about political reforms. In this regard, they deserve our praise. Perhaps this positive angle will help to improve the legal professions' reputation in the eyes of the average citizen.
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CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
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