HElB clearance and tax compliance certificates will no longer be used in nomination of candidates for Law Society of Kenya elections, majority lawyers have decided.
Previously, all contestants were subjected to rigorous exercise of submitting HELB clearance and Tax Compliance certificates, with those without forced out of the competition.
Lawyer Nelson Havi, who has been in frontline opposing such requirements in the past along with the age limit, took to Twitter to update his followers over the latest development.
"LSK members have by a majority of 287 against 190 removed Tax Compliance Certificate and HELB Clearance Certificate under Section 6 (1) & (2) of LSK Electoral Code of Conduct 2018 in eligibility for Society elections," he said.
"State operatives won’t have say in nominations for elections," added Havi in reference to what he refers to as persistent interference by government in LSK matters.
By the time of going to the press, Law Society of Kenya president Allen Gichuhi and his team had not made public announcement with regard to the latest development among the 'learned friends'.
But LSK South Nyanza president Wilkins Ochoki said the latest move shows how some discriminatory clauses should be done away with in the public service, adding that LSK had shown an example.
"We had to remove the clause. It was discriminatory and the same should apply in the public service. We are going to push the idea so that many youths who should be employed gets an opportunity," he said on phone.
For one to get such certificates, he or she has to part with Sh1000, a move that has often caused jitters among members of the public. Parliament through Embakasi East MP Paul Ongili alias Babu Owino had promised to expunge the requirement.