Young lawyer who won Kenyans’ hearts in election results petition

PHOTO | BILLY MUTAI | FILE Kethi Kilonzo. Makueni Senate seat aspirant out of race after IEBC rules she is not a registered voter

What you need to know:

  • Kethi Kilonzo’s articulate arguments had legal heavyweights marvelling in the court room

Lawyer Diana Kethi Kilonzo captured the attention and admiration of Kenyans in March when she represented NGO Africog in a petition challenging the election of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In the petition, heard by six Supreme Court judges led by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, Ms Kilonzo argued against the results announced by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Isaack Hassan, saying they were not credible.

Her articulate arguments left legal heavyweights, some ranked in her father Mutula Kilonzo’s class, marvelling in the Supreme Court room.

Overnight, she rose to celebrity status, with pages bearing her name being created on social media.

But in an ironical twist of events, Ms Kilonzo is again the talk of the town after the IEBC Nominations Dispute Resolution Committee revoked her nomination for the Makueni Senate race after she was accused of not being a registered voter.

The seat fell vacant after the death of her father.

The tribunal further ordered investigations into how she acquired an acknowledgement slip showing she was a registered voter.

Her decision to succeed her father met a lot of obstacles in the beginning, with her stepmother Nduku Kilonzo also showing interest. 

Nduku, however, later changed her mind, paving way for Ms Kilonzo to keep her father’s seat in the family. 

She was, however, hesitant to accept the bid and it took Wiper Democratic Party emissaries weeks to convince her to enter the race. 

The 36-year-old lawyer and accountant is a graduate of the University of Nairobi who has handled major cases, including a case involving former president Moi.

She joined the university in 1997 for her law degree. She later joined the Kenya School of Law for a diploma in law before being admitted to the bar.

She  also got a Masters in Public Finance at University of Nairobi.

Ms Kilonzo was also the top student in Kenya in the 2006 audit examination conducted by the Association of Certified Accountants.

Her legal work has had its successes.

One of these was when former MP Mak’Onyango claimed he was unlawfully detained during the 1982 botched coup. Then High Court judge Kalpana Rawal absolved then president Moi of any liability on the grounds that there was no evidence of personal misconduct in the detention.

She was also part of a team that handled a case which Kanu had filed against the Narc Government over ownership of the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.

Ms Kilonzo also represented former Wajir South MP Mohamed Sirat in a first ever case touching on dual citizenship. Mr Sirat was required to take plea as an Australian citizen before the chief magistrate’s court.

Ms Kilonzo has been running the Mutula law firm with her brother Mutula Kilonzo Jnr after their father resigned in 2008 to serve as a cabinet minister.

She has also won a case pitting the law firm’s client against the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

The KRA had seized Sh10 million from the company’s clients’ account to settle more than Sh300 million tax allegedly owed by her father. 

Through her submissions, the High Court issued an order in favour of the law firm, compelling KRA to return the money.