The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has come to the rescue of its members who have been on the spot for representing Nairobi governor Mike Sonko in his ongoing corruption court case.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday faulted state officers for participating in corruption cases while serving in positions meant to oversight.
This comes after senators Kipchumba Murkomen ( Elgeyo Marakwet), Mutula Kilonzo (Makueni) and Makueni MP Dan Maanzo represented Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko in court over misappropriation of county funds last week.
The president said that the same amounts to a conflict of interest, as the lawmakers are expected to hold the governors accountable, an argument LSK has dismissed.
Mombasa branch LSK Chair Mathews Nyabena said that there is no law limiting lawyers to specific cases, and they can represent whichever case they want in a court of law.
“A lawyer can choose whoever he wants to represent, it is a decision which has not been established in the Constitution and as such the only remaining option for the government is to challenge such decisions whenever leaders take up their roles as professionals in a court of law,” he said on Saturday.
Nyabena noted that the government can challenge the same in a court of law if unhappy with legislators, who are lawyers by profession, taking up specific cases.
Uhuru on Thursday directed Attorney General Paul Kariuki to come up with a Conflict of Interest bill seeking to bar public officers from engaging in other professions.