NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 13 \u2013 The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has vowed a strong confrontation with the judiciary, calling the term \u201cjudicial impunity\u201d after a High Court ruling in Nakuru that bars government entities from hiring private law firms.<\/p>\n
In a statement released Tuesday, LSK President Faith Odhiambo condemned the interim orders in Nakuru Petition E001 of 2026, calling them a \u201cnefarious scheme\u201d aimed at crippling the legal profession.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Law Society of Kenya maintains a resolute commitment to protect the legal practice environment. We will not countenance lethargy and overreach that threaten both the profession and the administration of justice in Kenya,\u201d Odhiambo said.<\/p>\n
The LSK views the court\u2019s decision\u2014which effectively restrains county governments and state agencies from outsourcing legal services\u2014as part of a long-standing effort to cut private practitioners off from government work.<\/p>\n
The Society noted that similar orders were quashed in July 2023 by Justice Jairus Ngaah, who affirmed that procurement of legal services must comply with Article 227 of the Constitution, ensuring fairness and competitiveness.<\/p>\n
Beyond protecting the economic interests of lawyers, the LSK warned of systemic consequences for public administration, highlighting that the Office of the Attorney General Act and the County Attorney Act explicitly allow engagement of external counsel to bridge capacity gaps.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrivate practitioners handle matters from which conflicts of interest may arise on the part of government-employed Advocates, offer independent expertise on governance structures, and mitigate workload excesses that would otherwise create backlogs,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n
Odhiambo dismissed claims that outsourcing legal services threatens public funds as \u201ctired rhetoric,\u201d stressing that legal fees are statutorily regulated and subject to court taxation.<\/p>\n
The conflict reflects growing tension between the Bar and the Bench. The LSK accused judicial officers of \u201cabrogating their duties\u201d in recent controversial rulings, including those halting nationwide police recruitment and suspending functions of the Judicial Service Commission.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shall not sit back and watch the Judiciary, the last line of defence for the people of Kenya, run rogue against its people. Unless this trend is nipped in the bud, we are prepared to agitate for a radical surgery as a means to uphold our Constitution,\u201d Odhiambo warned.<\/p>\n
The Society has instructed counsel to file for a review to set aside the conservatory orders issued by Justice Mohochi Mukira in the Nakuru case.<\/p>\n
It is also compiling instances of alleged \u201cjudicial arrogance\u201d to pursue disciplinary action, signaling that the legal fraternity is ready to escalate the dispute to defend both its profession and the rule of law.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 13 \u2013 The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has vowed a strong confrontation with the judiciary, calling the term \u201cjudicial impunity\u201d after a High Court ruling in Nakuru that bars government entities from hiring private law firms. In a statement released Tuesday, LSK President Faith Odhiambo condemned the interim orders in Nakuru […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128527\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}