The Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetang'ula, and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), Noordin Haji, are among 54 advocates who have been recommended for the Senior Counsel rank by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK).
The list was confirmed by the Chairperson of the Committee on Senior Counsel, LSK, Philip Murgor, on Thursday, December 4.
Other notable names in the list include Kivutha Kibwana, P. L.O. Lumumba, Eric Theuri, Elish Ongoya, Nelson Havi, Richard Harney, Mercy Wangari Mbuku, Jane Njeri, Paul Ndiritu, and Clement Kigano, among others.
A Senior Counsel is a distinguished advocate who has been conferred the highest professional rank by the President, to recognise his/her service and commitment to the legal profession.
This honour is granted after an application and selection process by the committee on seniors, which evaluates applicants based on their professional conduct and service.
The committee then submits a list of names to the Chief Justice, who then forwards it to the President for official conferment.
For an advocate to be eligible for this rank, he/she should have over 15 years of practice and must have made a notable contribution to the development of the legal profession.
There are currently 66 senior counsels in Kenya, with the last cohort admitted in August 2022.
The announcement comes two weeks after the Judiciary Service Commission (JSC) shortlisted 185 candidates for positions in the Court of Appeal, High Court, and the Environment and Land Court.
The shortlisted candidates had applied for various positions, including Judges of the Court of Appeal, Judges of the High Court, and the Judge of the Environmental and Land Court.
In a gazette dated November 14, he commission's secretary, Winfridah Mokaya, said that the application process kicked off in June this year, and a total of 714 applications were submitted to the commission for the positions.
Mokaya said that the commission shortlisted 35 candidates for Judges of the Court of Appeal, 100 candidates for High Court Judges’ positions, and 50 candidates for Judges of the Environmental and Land Court.
