Sad reality of fake ‘learned friends’ in corridors of justice

Law Society of Kenya President Isaac Okero speaks to reporters at the agency's office in Nairobi on August 16, 2017, about the crackdown on civil societies. He has admitted the issue of fake lawyers is real and a big challenge. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Quacks masquerading as advocates of the High Court are roaming various parts of the country purporting to be lawyers.
  • In South Rift alone, LSK officials alleged that 15 fake lawyers were hiding in various offices without the knowledge of the LSK.

Next time you approach an advocate for legal services, you better be advised to conduct due diligence to find out if he or she is for real.

Quacks masquerading as advocates of the High Court are roaming various parts of the country purporting to be lawyers but end up defrauding unsuspecting members of the public.

An Embu elder, jailed last week for three years for impersonation, joins a growing list of impostors who have infiltrated the legal profession posing as advocates.

IMPERSONATOR
In effect, whatever services the fake lawyers render to their clients becomes null and void the moment it is discovered they are quacks.

This is the awkward situation Mr Andrew Ireri, the chairman of Embu Council of Elders, found himself in when he was busted in a court session representing a client.

Mr Ireri was found guilty on three counts of impersonation for filing an environment and land case with purportedly sworn supporting affidavits and thereafter prosecuting a succession suit.

PENALTY
Embu Resident Magistrate Jean Ndengeri gave Mr Ireri the option of paying a fine of Sh70,000 for each of the three counts, and a further Sh50,000 for the offence of running an illegal association or in the alternative, spend three years in jail.

He is said to have risen to prominence during the impeachment of Governor Martin Wambora after he successfully filed an application in the appellate court challenging the process on grounds that there was no public participation.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Isaac Okero on Saturday admitted the issue of fake lawyers is real and a big challenge.

LICENSED LAWYERS
However, Mr Okero assured Kenyans that the society is working on an elaborate mechanism to end the fake lawyer menace that has invaded the profession.

Mr Okero said the society is currently working with the Lands Ministry, private sector, police and the Judiciary to bring the quacks to book.

“We are going to crack down on them for bringing the legal profession into disrepute. They will be apprehended and dealt with as provided by the law,” Mr Okero said.

He advised potential clients to always establish whether one is an advocate licensed to practice through the LSK search engine, a website that publishes information regarding the status of its members for the benefit of the public.

ROLL OF ADVOCATES
The website lists lawyers who are dormant or inactive (not certified to practice), suspended or struck off the Roll of Advocates and therefore not allowed to practice and those who are active and certified to practice for the year 2018.

According to the Advocates Act, a person cannot be qualified to practice law unless one has been admitted to the bar and his or her name is on the Roll of Advocates and in possession of a practicing certificate.

The LSK boss says majority of the impostors are clerks who work in various law firms in the country and regretted some witness and stamp legal documents using instruments of practicing advocates.

“The sad reality is that some advocates open law firms in parts of the country and leave their clerks, never mind they are not trained lawyers, to run the offices,” Mr Okero noted.

FRAUDSTERS
Some of the notorious law firms according to the LSK records are in Kisii, Migori, Kilgoris, Nyamira, Kapsabet, Ruiru, Thika, Nyeri, Embu, Kangema, Kajiado, Kitengela and Ndhiwa.

Over the years, bogus lawyers have been apprehended and charged in court with impersonation and intention to defraud gullible general public seeking legal services.

For instance, in 2006 Mr Eliza Matayian and Mr Militonic Kimanzi were charged in a Nairobi court with impersonating a High Court judge and an advocate.

The duo are said to have posed as, respectively, Justice Osiemo (retired) and a lawyer on separate occasions with the intention of conning a businessman Mr Wellington Nguku.

FORGERY
And in April last year, Mr Ronald Omondi Oimbo who police claimed had been masquerading as a lawyer was charged with impersonation at the Milimani law courts.

He denied the charges that on diverse dates between March 2016 and March 2017, being unqualified advocate, wilfully practiced as a lawyer representing Kenhar Motor Services in a court matter.

Mr Oimbo was working at a city law firm where he was also found with an instrument for making forged stamp impressions.

He faced separate charge of forgery and is out on Sh150,000 cash bail awaiting trial.

Another fake legal practitioner was in 2014 hauled before a court in Nakuru charged with practicing without requisite qualifications.

CLIENTS UNAWARE
Mr Dickson Kibet Koech was alleged to have impersonated a lawyer between March 2010 and April 2014 and even addressed the court on several occasions.

LSK Rift Valley chapter said the suspect was operating as Kibet Koech Advocates and represented clients in courts but his name never existed in the society’s records of licensed practicing lawyers in the region.

In South Rift alone, the society officials alleged that 15 fake lawyers were hiding in various offices without the knowledge of the LSK.

Interestingly, unsuspecting general public continued to flock their offices seeking legal services.

ARRESTED
The society named Nakuru, Eldama Ravine, Molo, Litein, Bomet, Narok and Kericho as the towns most infiltrated by legal impostors.

In Nyeri, Mr Washington Munene Macharia who purported to be an advocate and represented clients across Mount Kenya region without a practicing certificate is awaiting trial after being charged with impersonation.

A compliance and ethics enforcement officer in region Mr Muthui Kimani said Mr Macharia was on the run when he was caught in court at Kangema in Murang’a County as he stood to represent a client in court.

He is said to have escaped a police dragnet before he was finally nabbed at Naromoru town in Nyeri County and arraigned in court.