On April 18, a man was arraigned before Magistrate Rose Ongila in Tigania Law Courts, in Meru County, where he was charged with impersonating a lawyer.
However, the magistrate recused herself from hearing the case against the man disclosing that she had seen him in her courtroom acting as a lawyer.
This follows an operation by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) in collaboration with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Tuesday, April 18, that nabbed 11 people masquerading as lawyers.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, President of the Law Society of Kenya, Eric Theuri, confirmed that the operation to arrest fake lawyers was happening in the Mt. Kenya region but would be rolled out across the country.
“The current operation is localized to the Mt. Kenya region but will spread to the whole country in the coming days,” Theuri noted.
The operation was carried out in Meru and Nanyuki towns. In Meru, one person was arrested while in Nanyuki, ten people were arrested.
“He has been masquerading as an advocate and indeed appeared before court number 3 and represented clients when he knows he is not qualified,” noted Marias Maranya, the lawyer representing the LSK in the case.
According to the magistrate, recusing herself would ensure a fair hearing for the accused.
LSK noted that some of the culprits started out as clerks in law firms before branching out to start their own illegal law firms.
Some of the fake lawyers employed qualified lawyers to work alongside them, thus, concealing their impersonation.
In the recent past, some Kenyans have been caught using fake documents to gain employment or jobs.
For instance, on April 13, Ethics and Anti-Corrution Commission (EACC) officials arrested a suspect who faked academic certificates to secure a job at the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) as a P1 teacher.
Typically, a law degree takes four years in Kenya. In order to be an advocate of the High Court, one should have completed a diploma in law at the Kenya School of Law which usually takes eighteen months.
The Kenya School of Law is the only bar school in Kenya. After completing the course, one is admitted to the bar by signing the roll of advocates before a chief registrar or deputy registrar.
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