Leadership wrangles at the Law Society of Kenya have taken another twist, with CEO Mercy Wambua suing president Nelson Havi for contempt of court over plans to replace her.
This comes a day after LSK confirmed that it had received three applications for the CEO position now held by Ms Wambua.
LSK said the development followed a newspaper advertisement last month announcing the post vacant. The application period ended on July 14.
“After reviewing the applications for completeness and conformity with the requirements that had been set out in the advertisement, two managed to be shortlisted,” LSK said in an advert.
The three applicants included Mutua Ngumbau Nzioka, Josephat Mutunga Mutisya and Juliette Akoth Jakalia.
Speaking to the Nation, Ms Wambua described the development as illegal because it violates court orders issued last year when LSK suspended her before she was reinstated shortly after.
The embattled CEO said her contract was to end next February and added that it could be that Mr Havi was preparing for her successor to take over after her term ended.
However, she said, if LSK was planning to replace her immediately, she was ready to fight for her position and that she had sued Mr Havi for defying last year’s court order safeguarding her tenure.
“One of the court orders that I got last year stated that he (Havi) should not interfere with my contract. He is basically interfering with my contract. I have already filed a contempt of court application and he risks being jailed for six months,” Ms Wambua said.
She added that the low number of applicants for the much-coveted position poked holes in the authenticity of the process of replacing her.
Whereas she has opted to follow legal redress, LSK made public its plans to interview the two shortlisted candidates, Mr Ngumbau and Mr Mutisya, at 10.20am and 11.20am respectively at its headquarters on Gitanga Road, Nairobi, on July 21.
Mr Havi’s new legal troubles come barely a week after he was detained at the DCI headquarters on Kiambu Road for allegedly assaulting Ms Wambua during a council meeting.
To his defence, Mr Havi said he had not assaulted anyone and dismissed the allegation as a creation of the plaintiff who gate-crashed a meeting she was not invited to.
All these happenings come after 118 members of the society supported the motion to send Ms Wambua on compulsory leave and have her replaced in June. Only 16 members reportedly opposed the motion.
