Gichuhi beat his main competitor James Mwamu after garnering 2,675 votes against 2,145/COURTESY
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 23 – Allen Gichuhi has been elected Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President in a poll conducted Thursday.
Gichuhi beat his main competitor James Mwamu after garnering 2,675 votes against 2,145.
He has now succeeded lawyer Isaac Okero who has been at the helm for four years.
The voting was overseen by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission officials at 28 court buildings which served as polling stations across the country.
Earlier, Gichuhi had stated that his strong support base especially within Nairobi would give him an edge over his competitor.
The vice-president’s contest attracted two main candidates, Chiggai Harriet and Joy Masinde.
The exercise comes even as young advocates had planned to boycott the polls over the decision to restrict people seeking the position of president to 15 years of practice terming it discriminatory.
The same restriction extends to the positions of vice-president and council members.
They also argued that a clause in LSK Act, which allows a young advocate who served as a council member to vie for the presidency while subjecting the rest to the 15-year rule was discriminative.
Nelson Havi unsuccessfully challenged the decision to bar him from contesting the LSK Presidency.
Former nominated MP Judith Sijeny, who was also eyeing the president’s position, also withdrew.
This was the third attempt for Mwamu at the presidency, having run and lost to former LSK President Kenneth Akide in 2010 and again lost to Isaac Okero in 2016.
It was the second attempt for Gichuhi.
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