KISUMU, Kenya, Feb 11 — A Presidential candidate in the forthcoming Law Society of Kenya (LSK) polls has pledged to protect the bar from national government infringement.
Speaking while on a campaign trail in Kisumu on Saturday, Peter Wanyama said LSK has been a target of the national executive which tends to front leaning candidates.
Wanyama said he is ready for the task and will keep with the tradition, where LSK remains an independent body.
“Lawyers understand the need to have an independent bar, they understand the importance of the rule of law,” he said.
He said lawyers will not surrender LSK to the government.
“Any government-friendly candidate will surely be rejected if there is any outside there,” he said.
Wanyama met young lawyers drawn from the lake region where he committed to champion reforms.
He singled out what he termed as heavy unemployment in the legal sector projecting 30,000 new advocates by 2034.
“We must think hard and push through satisfying reform initiatives that protect the work,” he said.
He accused surveyors and brokers of edging the lawyers out of work.
Wanyama said under his leadership, he will streamline the legal sector through reforms to give young lawyers a chance to learn and scale the ladder while on the job.
He promised to lobby for the allocation of all small claims cases to advocates with less than 10 years’ experience under an affirmative action move.
“Senior lawyers will then be required to employ young lawyers who will handle small claims matters for them and gain some trial experiences,” he said.
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