Lawyers from across the country on Thursday morning of February 29, trooped to various polling stations to elect new officials of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK)
The over 15,000 advocates who are members of LSK, began voting for their next president and officials of the society at about 8am.
The advocates are expected to choose their representatives for the next two years, including the election of a male representative to the Judicial Service Commission.
Those contesting for the LSK president position include lawyers Peter Wanyama, Faith Odhiambo, Benard Kipng’etich, Njoki Mboce and Carolyne Kamende.
The LSK presidency, with a non-renewable two-year term, holds a critical role in steering the society’s direction.
The elected official will take over from Eric Theuri, whose two year term has come to an end. Theuri took over from Nelson Havi.
The upcoming president, once elected, will be the 51st president of the society. The race also portends to go down the annals of history should one of the female candidates be elected to serve as LSK president, the second after former Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo, who served between 2001 and 2003.
The exercise is expected to close at 5:00 pm. Other positions that will be filled today include that of LSK Vice president, gender representative among others.
A spot-check at some polling stations like at the Milimani law courts showed a steady flow of lawyers walking in to exercise their rights. Some candidates also showed up for the process.
The 2024 LSK election has largely been centred around a call by advocates to protect the bar and its independence, especially after allegations that previous office holders failed to fight for the interest of members.
The growing tension between some members of the bar and judges, and magistrates has also been cited as one of the key agendas influencing the vote.
Other issues have also been the need to weed out quacks in the legal profession and expand and guard areas of practice for advocates.
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