Another week of fights at LSK

In the raging battle at the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), the president, Mr Nelson Havi, is finding himself isolated by a council majority that is powering ahead without him.

A council meeting called last Monday went on despite Mr Havi and three council members giving it a wide berth, on the grounds that the invitations were sent out by CEO Mercy Wambua, who should not be in office.

In the absence of Mr Havi and the vice-president Caroline Kamende, the council settled on Mr Bernard Ngetich to chair the session. Having missed the Monday meeting, Mr Havi called for an extraordinary council meeting on Tuesday, which the Sunday Nation has learnt did not take place, as the majority of the council members stayed away.

As the two sides to the conflict at the LSK were going at each other, a senior lawyer who is highly regarded for his expert on alternative dispute resolution was approached to try and bring together the two factions. A meeting was then set for Friday afternoon at Fairview Hotel but as the meeting was about to start, the president’s side called to say they would not be attending. By then, the other nine council members were already at the venue.

On Mr Havi’s side is Ms Kamende, and council members Herine Kabita and Esther Ang’awa. The other side has nine members: Ngetich, Aluso Ingati, Carolyne Mutheu, Faith Odhiambo, Linda Emukule, Beth Michoma, Ndinda Kinyili, George Omwansa and Roseline Odede.

Extraordinary meeting

The bitter split in the society has been caused by Mr Havi’s attempt to kick Ms Wambua out of office. That has, however, been thwarted by the other nine members who cleared the CEO of any wrongdoing and she remains in office.  After the council meeting and the failed extraordinary meeting, the battle got worse when the council rebuked Mr Havi for purporting to hire a firm to conduct a forensic audit of LSK’s accounts.

In letters shared on social media, Mr Havi said he had settled on Parker Randall East Africa to audit LSK accounts and even agreed on a fee of Sh2.2 million, of which 50 per cent was to be paid upfront.

“Please liaise with the accounts department and have the sum set out in the invoice paid to Parker Randall East Africa,” Mr Havi stated in a second letter.

Shortly after the letters started circulating, the CEO, acting on the authority of the nine council members, dismissed the purported hiring of an auditor.

“I am instructed by the council to inform you, which I hereby do, that the recruitment of an auditor is still ongoing and you will be notified accordingly once the process is complete,”  the CEO stated in the letter dated November 10.

In a bad week for the weakened LSK president, the CEO dismissed his allegations that the society may have lost Sh50 million. Ms Wambua released a breakdown and supporting documents on how the monies were moved from LSK’s collection account at KCB Bank-based fixed deposit accounts in two batches of Sh20 million and Sh30 million and earned the society some Sh1.2 million in interest.

Further, his attempts to lock the CEO out of the Society’s offices on Gitanga Road were thwarted on Wednesday.

The LSK president is reported to have arrived early and asked guards to bar the CEO from the compound. The CEO arrived soon after. Instead of forcing her way, Ms Wambua called the police. The guards were then forced to open the gate.

The week before, Mr Havi was sidelined by the State in the funeral arrangements for senior counsel Nzamba Kitonga. Rather than work with him in making the preparations, the Ministry of Interior went for lawyer Fred Ojiambo, whose chairmanship of the Senior Counsel’s Bar Mr Havi does not recognise, and Philip Murgor, who also does not see eye-to-eye with Mr Havi.

Realising that Mr Havi could be losing the war, some of his close associates have been proposing a deal that would see the CEO step aside “with full benefits” to allow an audit to be done in 30 days.

Critics of Mr Havi, however, say the best that can happen would be for him to resign.

“The LSK under Mr Havi is a complete and utter mess,” said Mr Murgor, a harsh critic of the LSK boss. “The credibility of LSK is at an all-time low and Havi has himself to blame for having lost the confidence of the majority of the council to the extent that he now finds himself in the minority whereby the council can conduct its affairs without him.”  But Havi Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi and Prof Tom Ojienda in his corner.