In general terms, an outlaw is a person excluded from the benefit or protection of the law; a lawless person or a fugitive. But the most figurative definition is provided by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, thus an “outlaw” is “an animal that is wild and unmanageable”. Justin Bedan Njoka Muturi (58) may not be a modern day Robin Wood. Cursorily his background meets the bill of a law-abiding individual: A lawyer, a principal magistrate (and chairperson, Kenya Judges and Magistrates Association), and legislator; and currently the Speaker of the National Assembly, the lead lawmaking institution in Kenya. But, it would seem,…
Author: NLM writer
A recent twitter spat between Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and former Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Gladys Shollei regarding the controversial purchase of a Sh310 million official residence for the Chief Justice has rekindled Judiciary woes that saw her sacked and confidence ratings in the third arm of government plummet. It also lays bare the application of double standards in Kenya’s justice system. Curiuously Mrs Shollei is as free as a bird even after a plethora of damning charges of impropriety that culminated into loss of billions of shillings in the Judiciary. The Office of the Director of Prosecutions has not…
Q: Who is Kuki Gallmann? A: I am an Italian-born Kenyan author and conservationist, who was fascinated by Africa from childhood and later chose to settle in Kenya in 1972 where I found both true joy and tragedy. My husband Paolo and son Emanuele died in tragic accidents in my adopted country within a few years but I decided to stay on and make a difference in the best way I could. As a living memorial to them, I established The Gallmann Memorial Foundation (GMF), which promotes harmonious co-existence of people and nature and is active in education, biodiversity…
Resolution of legal disputes may reduce by over 50 percent following the construction of an international arbitration centre in Nairobi. According to High Court Judge Lady Justice Jacqueline Kamau, the Court requires 44 months to complete 400,000 cases pending before it. “It will take us (judges) three years and eight months to hear and determine cases pending before the High Court even without new matters being filed.” Justice Kamau was speaking during the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Special General Meeting that resolved to construct a Sh1.2 billion international arbitration centre in South C, Nairobi. “The Judiciary is encouraging adoption…
Bride price, a common cultural practice in many African countries, acts as a form of validation of customary marriages. In a paper titled Bride Price and Violence Against Women: The Case of Uganda presented at the International Bride Price Conference Kampala earlier in the year, Lady Justice Oguli Oumo described bride price as consisting “a contract where material items, (often cattle and other animals) or money are paid by the groom to the bride’s family in exchange for the bride, her labour and her capacity to produce children”. The payment of bride price by the prospective groom is therefore…
The hall is cavernous on the fourth floor of the Queens Supreme Court building. Whispers feel magnified as they echo amid the marble floors and vaulted ceiling. The whispers are of lawyers and clients, their lives in one kind of legal limbo or another, figuring out the next bit of strategy. The newest judge on the court’s fourth floor is Barry Kamins, a man with as prestigious a resume as any in the New York state court system. But his future is also uncertain: Kamins is currently being investigated by the state Commission on Judicial conduct for a range of…
It is barely two months since Kenya marked four years after the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 was promulgated. Parliament has to content with Article 261(1) of the Constitution that has mandated it to enact legislations stipulated in the fifth schedule of the Constitution. The schedule sets out the time frame within which Parliament must enact those legislations or risk bearing the Constitutional consequences in Articles 261(5) (6) and (7) – of being ordered by the High Court to enact legislation within a particular period, and upon failing to comply with the court’s order, of being dissolved by the President upon…
There have been heated discussions in relation to Kenya’s membership of the Treaty of Rome that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). Following the indictment of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto by the ICC for crimes against humanity, Kenyan MPs called for ICC withdrawal and voted for abandoning the Treaty of Rome. Central to the discussions is the subject of sovereignty and perceived interference by ‘external powers’ in internal, national affairs. This subject has also been raised by Ethiopia in Government communiqués relating to its controversial Gilgel Gibe III electricity-generating dam in the Omo Valley of…
There have been heated discussions in relation to Kenya’s membership of the Treaty of Rome that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). Following the indictment of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto by the ICC for crimes against humanity, Kenyan MPs called for ICC withdrawal and voted for abandoning the Treaty of Rome. Central to the discussions is the subject of sovereignty and perceived interference by ‘external powers’ in internal, national affairs. This subject has also been raised by Ethiopia in Government communiqués relating to its controversial Gilgel Gibe III electricity-generating dam in the Omo Valley of…
Family Bank has urged its shareholders to purchase more shares in the ongoing rights issue, to raise over Sh3 billion to power its expansion. Each share in the rights issue that opened on October 14 , 2013 and closes on November 28, 2014, is going for Sh25. “The bank is on the right course as we confront a rapidly changing industry guided by our universal banking strategy with the ultimate goal being to play in the top tier space by 2017,” Family Bank chief executive Peter Munyiri said. The lender has been on an unprecedented growth momentum since conversion to…
