Nairobi lawyer Donald Kipkorir has opposed the list of lawyers set to be presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta ahead their appointment to the Senior Counsels club.
On Wednesday, Kipkorir said that there is need for further consultation over the names before forwarding the same to President for a consent.
The lawmaker has lamented that the committee didn’t take into account the issues of gender and regional balance in the selection of the members to the club.
“The bill totally disregards populous regions. There is no equality as far as the bill is concerned. There is no way populous counties like Kiambu, Nairobi among others can be equated with the less populous ones,” he said.
He alleged that the panel was favouring the criminal lawyers handling commercial cases. He also asked why the title could not be conferred to Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Presidents, Directors of Public Prosecutions (DPPs) and Attorney-Generals (AGs).
Once a lawyer has been conferred a Senior Counsel title, his or her matters are given priority in court. The members of the club are also granted the privilege of sitting in the middle of the court during the procession.
The lawyer said that some of the regions have been sidelined after the nominations.
The committee listed several names for appointment including Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Dorcas Oduor, lawyers Fred Ngatia Kioko Kilukumi, Wilfred Nderitu, Kiragu Kimani and Judy Thongori.
It later emerged that the committee decided to overlook 66 applicants during the vetting process before the presentation of the same to President Uhuru Kenyatta.