Time and chance brought Ruto and I together — Nelson Havi

He told the Star in an interview at his office in Nairobi on Wednesday that the Book of Ecclesiastes speaks about time and unforeseen occurrences, and it is time and chance that have placed him and DP Ruto together.

"I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all," Havi read the scriptures, adding that “King James' version puts it this way, ‘Time and unforeseen occurrences befall all of us'".

The former Law Society of Kenya president said the isolation Ruto experienced as Deputy President, is the same he suffered as LSK boss.

“You saw his troops being targeted. I was often there to defend them, not because I liked them but because I adhere to the rule of law. 

You might remember when I went to Nakuru on September 19, 2020 to defend Oscar Sudi [Kapseret MP]. I didn't like what Sudi had said about the mother of President Kenyatta and I told Justice Prof Joel Ngugi that what he said was wrong. But do we solve it by detaining him? He said no and he was released,” Havi recalled. 

He explained that it is through such associations that he ended up working with Ruto.

Asked why he opted for Ruto and not Raila, Havi responds, "Look, my blood is hot; I cannot stay in a cold house. ODM is a cold house; there is no space for me".

He says before he joined UDA on November 12, 2021, he had made inroads to ODM the preceding two weeks because his supporters told him not to move without talking to Raila . 

"But the Junets, the Orengos and the Jakakimbas put roadblocks. But even as my supporters told me to talk to Raila, I prayed that I should not be accepted there because they are cold blooded," he said.  

Havi also noted there is nothing wrong with Martha Karua or Raila but their style of leadership doesn't resonate with him.

He also spoke on his legal career, MP bid and cycling in this interview with the Star's Eliud Kibii.

You have had a good legal career. Why are you joining politics?

There is a gentleman by the name Herod the Great. He died at the age of 37 and by the time of his death, he had built three cities - Herodium, Masada and Caesarea.

I am now 45 years old, almost 10 years older than Herod the Great by the time he died. I have had an illustrious litigation career spanning 19 years. Without chest-thumping, I can say affirmatively there is no type of case I have not handled — land, family and divorce, human rights commercial and criminal cases. 

I have seen the limitations of the court process and when I was elected president of the LSK, I came very close to the limitations that stand in the way of the justice system.

I dealt with the Office of the DPP,  the Chief Justice, the DCI, speakers of the National Assembly and the Senate and the clerks and realised the lethargy in public administration.

I made up my mind: It is prudent that I get into public administration for me to impact more productively in so far as good governance is concerned.

You can go to court to challenge BBI but how long will you take to get a result?

Even with the fast track we experienced with the BBI, it took us slightly more than a year to determine the matter. Look at the case of dissolution of Parliament on account of failure to enact the two-thirds gender rule. The matter is still in court for the second year.

I have handled many land cases that take five to 10 years. But Parliament has a more effective platform and if we cannot effectively litigate, why not legislate?

That's why I decided to get into the deep waters of legislation and run for office as Westlands MP.

Which are the court cases in your career would you say stand out for you?

Several. In so far as public interest litigation is concerned, the defence of the rule of law for the greater good of Kenya, the BBI is the most outstanding.

We successfully challenged the attempt by the political class to change the Constitution for the purposes of distributing power among themselves instead of taking into account the needs of Kenyans.

I am now handling the CBC case, a fundamental paradigm shift, not only in the curriculum but the entire system of education. Initially the case had been filed in the name of my associate Esther Ang'awa, and there was a lot of state aggression against her so that she yielded ground. I went to court and it gave me permission to inherit the case.  

On electoral matters, the law books record the cases of William Kabogo Vs George Thuo, which I handled when I was barely 35 against formidable lawyers such as BM Musau and Prof Githu Mungai, Senior Counsel, and succeeded.

The jurisprudence in the case ended up determining the course of legislation and even several articles in the Constitution in ensuring free, fair and transparent elections.

In commercial litigation, the biggest case I handled was the Westlands Residential Resort vs Kawakanja, a company owned by James Kanyotu. Westlands Residential Resort was owned by Stanley Kinyanjui of Magnate Ventures.

It was a significant commercial/ land case in that the property we were buying on behalf of my client was agricultural land and that colonial lyric Land Control Act that you need consent and that requirement is abused.

There are also the Adopt A Light cases, successfully challenging attempts by one individual advertiser to create a monopoly in the advertising industry. 

I have also contributed to the freedom of the press by acting for several journalists, among them Walter Menya (held for reporting on financiers of Jubilee campaigns) and Duncan Khaemba (harassed because he had a bullet proof jacket and helmet for his safety as he reported from Kibra) .

I have acted for the Star for about 10 years. In 2009, Uhuru Kenyatta, now President, had filed close to 10 cases against the Star, most of them emanating from the ICC charges and no lawyer in Nairobi wanted to touch these cases. I successfully defended the Star in those cases and many others. 

Looking at the damages that would have been awarded, for instance in the case of Nicolas Biwott, and in cases the paper was to pay Sh20 million to Sh60 million, I have played a fundamental role in ensuring media freedom.

What's your plan for Westlands?

The functions of an MP are elaborately set out in the Constitution.

One is to legislate and for you to do that, you must debate articulately and affirmatively. The current MP, Tim Wanyonyi, happens to be a lawyer but has spoken only once in the National Assembly in this Parliament during the debate of the BBI Bill to support it [Mzalendo Watch says Tim Wanyonyi has spoken 566 times in Parliament]

Westlands is among the richest constituencies in Kenya. How can it be that somebody who doesn’t speak is representing it? In absence of speech in Parliament, we cannot have laws that cater for all the needs of society. You also need legislation for an environment conducive to conduct business. These, amongst others, show the need to have an effective legislator.

And make no mistake about it because there are those who claim Havi is overbearing and arrogant. Parliament is not a Cathedral or a pulpit, and even if it were, it needs forceful people because even Jesus himself had to chase away certain mongrels from the Synagogue. You need and effective, assertive personality to represent you in the National Assembly.

The second role of Parliament is oversight of the Executive. 

Westlands is the hub of business activities in Nairobi. So many international organisations are domiciled here — banks, telecom industries, embassies etc. You go to these suburbs and there is no water. The road construction has interfered with the sewer line and water pipes and lanes. KeNHA and Nairobi Metropolitan Services have the responsibilities of constructing roads, bus stops, lanes etc but the oversight role to ensure they do it rests on the shoulders of the MP. This has been wanting. 

There is the third facet of national revenue allocation to ensure when the national budget is formulated, all areas of the country benefit as we pay taxes.

We have companies like Safaricom and the three big audit firms that bring in a lot of revenue. Does this  yield percolate to the people of Westlands? How is it that those at the bottom of the pyramid continue suffering yet we have so many resources available to us, which would go a long way in constructing markets in Kangemi and building of schools?

We also have an annual allocation of Sh150 million, with which you can build two schools in a year or one hospital and improve markets. 

The other duty of an MP is infrastructure development, which I have just talked about. You go to Parklands Road and there is no lighting, pedestrian paths and the deplorable state of Kangemi market. 

There is also the issue of bursary. Last year, the auditor general reported that close to Sh34 million meant for bursary in Westlands could not be accounted for. You have an MP whose interests are quite distant from uplifting those at the bottom, and two there is no awareness of the availability of these bursaries, often thinking this is a favour from the MP. 

I want everybody to be informed so that they can know their rights.

You say the people of Westlands should benefit from companies in the area. How will you make that happen given they are mostly private-owned?

There is no reason why Safaricom, for instance, should not make an allocation to employ a percentage of people in Westlands. Same case with Hotel Kempinski. This can be done through affirmative action; we speak to them using good offices. 

Should NMS remain in the next dispensation?

They shouldn't and I even went to court and at some point it was declared unconstitutional. They were able to reverse that decision.

But NMS is here with us and we have to be pragmatic and that's why in the recent past I have been doing a lot of work with them in Westlands. They partnered with me when we were planting trees at Kangemi cemetery memorial park and they gave us a lot of assistance.

To that extent, I must acknowledge the work they have done, my position on their constitutionality notwithstanding. It's like having an illegitimate child. It is still your child.

I don’t have anything bad against Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Martha Karua. I had loads and loads of files of the 2013 and 2017 petitions here, some of which I financed from my pocket.

Your tenure at the LSK was quite controversial. Will we still see this kind of Havi as MP?

Where I come from, they say a man without ambition is like a woman without beauty. If you are a beautiful woman in my village, you use your beauty to have things done. If you are a man of a profession, or certain calling, you use that to get things done.

I have used my strong personality to get things done time without number. They always say for Havi, it is his way or the highway. Of course I like it that way because I have studied and checked what the options are and why this way is good. That's the difference between a leader and the person who is being led.

Niccolo Machiavelli says the Prince is half human, half animal [beast]. When there will be need for me to be human in Parliament, I will be a complete human being. When there will be need for be to be an animal, I will be a complete animal just as I was as LSK president and we got things done. And it is for a good reason. There are things that require diplomacy, others a fight. 

You were also vocal on gender parity at LSK. How best can this be attained?

We have not had an MP to own up to this bill and push it through. I have a demonstrable record of picking and idea and going with it foe example BBI, the dissolution of Parliament and the CBC issue.

Does the CBC case got anything to do with DP Ruto's position on the curriculum?

There are many similarities between the Deputy President and myself.

One is that we are hustlers, two, we have a lot of energy and determination and three, we are very smart. I won't, therefore, be surprised if we are to think alike even without coordination. 

We never discussed attacking the BBI with William Ruto, we never discussed CBC with him. 

I picked it from Facebook and Twitter. My friend Linda Oguttu kept on posting pictures of the struggles her child was going through and asked what the hell is this? Parents started pushing me, we researched for a month and came up with the CBC petition.

Initially, you were not as harsh as you are now on Tim Wanyonyi when he sought the governorship. How has his return to the race affected your bid?

If I were to run against Sonia Birdi or Mike Gumo, I'd have nothing to criticise.

With the incumbent, we can evaluate him and this is a big advantage for me. All I need to do is to enumerate the role as MP and start going through the checklist.

The deployment on my side has had to increase, but of course I am not as deep-pocketed as he is. I am a little bit handicapped.

You haven't been harsh on Raila and Karua. Some say you still have a soft spot for Raila. 

I don’t have anything bad against Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Martha Karua. I had loads and loads of files of the 2013 and 2017 petitions here, some of which I financed from my pocket.

And having been an ardent supporter of Raila, the unfortunate thing is he will never listen to you. You will wait for him for two hours and he will come to speak to you looking the other side. William Ruto will wait for you at the appointed time. That's the contrast between them. They are good people but with different styles. 

Finally, you have been cycling, which has drawn different reactions. But looking at the bigger picture that is global conversation about climate change, how do you plan to ensure safe cycling while the infrastructure does not provide for that? 

There are those who think we are doing this for PR and attention sake.  Do I look like someone who needs attention?

When Reverend Sharpton went to the funeral of George Floyd, a journalist asked him, " Are you here for the publicity?'

He said, "Of course I am here for the publicity. The family of Floyd has invited me to publicize this catastrophe".

I have cycled since I was eight. The last time I cycled for publicity was in 1998 but the moment I cycle because of my status, it becomes a sensation. And it is okay.

I picked the bicycle at the invitation of H.E Rachel Ruto.

I tweeted once that we abandon our vehicles and just cycle and she asked Michael Gitonga why don't you ask Havi to come cycle with us to give momentum to this [MamaCycling]?

You often see a vehicle behind me. Yes, that's my car for security purposes, especially when I am doing it for publicity.

It is important that when doing road infrastructure, we do provision for cycling by expanding the legislative framework under the Traffic Act to recognize cyclists. With this, we will create and enabling environment, infrastructure wise and legally for cycling. We should make cycling a culture for health and road safety awareness.

Parting shot?

When individuals venture out to lead, please prepare to turn out to vote.

I want to leave the legacy of Herod the great, the man who able to influence history, despite the short time he was given.

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