Senior Counsel PLO Lumumba on Tuesday penned a letter to Chief Justice Martha Koome concerning the ban imposed on Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi by the Supreme Court.
In the letter dated January 28, Lumumba urged CJ Koome to grant Ahmednasir an audience to defend himself, terming the decision to ban him and advocates from his firm from the Supreme Court an extreme and unusual punishment.
"What should worry any Advocate regarding the manner in which Mr. Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC and Associates of his law firm have been dealt with is that he is subjected to extreme and unusual punishment, the effect of which is to deny him the right of practice of Law which is his source of livelihood," part of the letter read.
"Your Ladyship, if Mr Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC has committed any offence known to law, he should be cited and allowed to defend himself."
He further urged Koome and fellow Supreme Court judges to revisit its findings and reverse the decision against Ahmednassir and all the other advocates practicing under his Law firm, Ahmednassir Abdullahi Advocates LLP.
To conclude his 10-page letter, Lumumba quoted the words of Lord Denning in his judgment in R v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, Ex parte Blackburn (No. 2) [1968] 2 QB 150 which read in part, "Let me say at once that we will never use this jurisdiction [of contempt] as a means to uphold our own dignity. That must rest on surer foundations. Nor will we use it to suppress those who speak against us."
"We do not fear criticism, nor do we resent it. For there is something far more important at stake. It is no less than freedom of speech itself. It is the right of every man, in Parliament or out of it, in the press or over the broadcast, to make fair comment, even outspoken comment, on matters of public interest."
In his letter, Lumumba was keen to clarify that he was acting on his own accord as an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and that the subject, Ahmednassir, had not granted consent.
The letter followed the January 18, 2024 ruling that barred Ahmednassir and his advocates from operating before the Supreme Court.
Barely a week ago on January 22, an advocate affiliated with the law firm was denied an audience at the Supreme Court fueling more uproar from Kenyans.
During the ruling, Ahmednassir was accused of having relentlessly and unabashedly conducted a campaign in the broadcast, print, and social media aimed at scandalizing, ridiculing, and outrightly denigrating the Supreme Court.
On January 28, 13 advocates drawn from his law firm joined in on former Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi's petition to have all 7 Supreme Court judges removed by filing a court petition of their own.
