- The city lawyer said though he rallied his council to seek temporary solutions, including reaching out to partners and established advocates.
- Theuri said though he believed in challenging the laws that are unconstitutional in court, he said he would rally his team to develop in-house drafting capacity.
Image: COURTESY
Eric Theuri believes the Law society of Kenya is ineffective because the national office has not adequately strengthened the regional offices and branches.
Theuri is running in the March 10 polls that has attracted candidates who include Coast branch chairman Matthew Nyabena and immediate former LSK vice-president Caroline Kamende.
Others are are former LSK council members Bernhard Kipkoech and Omwanza Ombati.
He is currently serving as the Nairobi branch chairman since 2020.
If elected, he would replace former president Nelson Havi who got ejected from office by a caucus of branch chairpersons for not attending to the affairs of the society.
The caucus is led by Linda Kiome Gitonga.
He sat down for an interview with the Star at his Upper Hill office on Thursday.
Theuri said when he got into office as the head of Nairobi branch, he found lawyers in the city had numerous challenges relating to their practice environment, as well as those touching on their welfare.
He said the welfare challenges were worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic as he took office at the peak of the virus.
This led to the closure of courts which adversely affected starting advocates. Most of them were not able to put food on the table and all these complaints were the chairman’s business to address, he said.
The city lawyer said though he rallied his council to seek temporary solutions, including reaching out to partners and established advocates, he felt limited because of the constricted scope of his office as a branch chairperson.
“Branch chairs can do more in the interest of the rule of law and administration of justice as well as welfare issues of advocates if their hands are strengthened and properly facilitated,” he said.
According to the law establishing the LSK, there are some partnerships and commitments that only the national office can get into but not the branch bosses.
“And there are some organisations and partners that we approached for collaboration and support but you say they would only do such work with the national office,” the soft spoken lawyer said.
But as the lobby’s president, Theuri said, he would advocate for policy change to empower branch heads to have more latitude in seeking support from partners to address members’ welfare issues as well as matters relating to practice.
“I will galvanise my team to raise the profile of branches to attract support of donors so that they can mount some work like legal aid. This can only be achieved by the national office that values the branches.”
Also top on his agenda is the increasing the society’s participation in making the laws in the country so that “we don’t just become reactionary to bad laws but take part in their framing from inception.”
Theuri said though he believed in challenging the laws that are unconstitutional in court, he said he would rally his team to develop in-house drafting capacity so that the society meaningfully takes part in the country's legislative processes.
"We will develop in house capacity to generate legal proposals and take part in their [law] making rather than being reactionary when bad laws have come out. This, however, does not stop us from seeking court's intervention if illegal laws are passed," he said.
Theuri also said his administration would take the society's watchdog role over the government seriously.
He said as president of the society, he would not "go to bed with the government."
"We don't want to be like the administration that Nelson Havi took over from because they were perceived to have been too soft on the state excesses," he said.
With him in office, he said, the powerful should brace themselves for "sustained litigation and street protests in case rights of our members and the general public is compromised."
Also, he said, he would ensure the LSK takes keen interest in laws touching on the country's economy and taxation because, so far the "voice of the LSK on matters taxation has not been heard."
"We will engage all stakeholders, including KAM, FKF and Treasury when a relevant matter touching on the economy is being ventilated so that our voice is forcefully heard."
Being an election year, he said, he would remain objective and not take political sides because he is "not interested in politics both now and in future."
(edited by Amol Awuor)