Lawyers

Keen Bar Now: Transforming LSK for a Better Future

Published

11 months ago

February 7, 2024

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Kipkoech Bernhard Ng’etich (KBN), Candidate for 51st President of Law Society of Kenya

By Team Kipkoech Bernhard Ng’etich (Team KBN)

In the corridors of justice and legal advocacy, we often find ourselves caught between the ideals we hold dear and the stark reality of the legal landscape. For many of us, being part of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has come with mixed experiences, and we often wonder whether our hard-earned membership fees are truly translating into tangible benefits for our well-being and professional growth.

Similarly, young lawyers entering the profession are faced with numerous challenges, with the most prominent one being the lack of mentorship and support programs. Navigating the complexities of the legal world without guidance can be a daunting task, leaving many young lawyers in the dark.

Furthermore, there’s the issue of active participation and representation within the LSK. It’s disheartening when our fellow members find it hard to actively engage and voice their concerns within our association. The sense of being unheard and unrepresented is a genuine concern among LSK members.

But the challenges don’t stop there. Corruption within the judiciary has marred the effectiveness and efficiency of our legal system, making routine transactions take too long to conclude and becoming unnecessarily expensive. The inefficiencies in the administration of justice make the practice of law and the pursuit of justice an expensive, frightful, and frustrating process. These issues have resulted in limited practice opportunities, which, in turn, put economic pressure on legal practitioners.

As if that weren’t enough, the lack of a national structure to address bottlenecks in the practice environment adds another layer of complexity to our professional lives. These issues have created a stark contrast between the life many of us are experiencing within the LSK and what it could be.

A Vision for Change: Keen Bar Now (KBN)

Enter Kipkoech Bernhard Ng’etich (KBN), a presidential candidate who embodies the vision for a better Law Society of Kenya. With KBN, we have a leader who understands the frustrations and concerns of LSK members. He’s not just a candidate; he’s the catalyst for transformation and progress.

KBN’s Achievements and Proven Track Record

KBN is a leader who has been tested in practice matters and is genuinely concerned about the challenges and concerns of LSK members. His achievements and dedication speak volumes:

Advocating for the Rule of Law: In 2016, KBN challenged the misuse of speed guns by the police, leading to the placement of speed limits notices on major highways. This change has made our roads safer and is a testament to KBN’s unwavering commitment to the rule of law.
Advocacy for Judicial Calendar Transparency: KBN recognized the need for transparency in the judicial system. In 2019, he filed and argued a public interest petition seeking to have the judicial calendar shared with judicial officers and members of the bar in advance. This move aimed at enhancing efficiency and reducing uncertainty within the legal profession.
Objective Leadership: KBN’s approach to issues is devoid of negative prejudices, which enables him to have clarity of thought in decision-making. His five years of service in the branch and 15 years on the Council have demonstrated his fair judgment.
Challenging the Status Quo: KBN isn’t just an advocate for clients who are oppressed; he’s willing to challenge the status quo. He personally defended himself successfully in a concocted and egregious traffic matter, which was dismissed. This experience drove him to advocate for equality before the law, leading to the marking of all designated speed gun areas on highways. Today, thanks to his efforts, KENHA has conspicuously fitted all highways with speed gun notices.

What Sets KBN Apart?

KBN’s candidacy is not about claiming to be better; it’s about being different. His commitment to the rule of law, transparency, and equality before the law makes him a unique candidate. KBN doesn’t promise change; he embodies it. He brings a fresh perspective to the LSK, one that is deeply rooted in principles of fairness, transparency, and justice.

A Pledge for a Better Future

We are at a critical juncture in the history of the Law Society of Kenya. The future of our association depends on the choices we make today. As a member, your voice is powerful, and your vote can shape the destiny of the LSK.

Here’s your call to action:

Join the movement for change. Pledge your vote to #Keen Bar Now, and together, we can make the Law Society of Kenya a beacon of support, fairness, and progress. KBN is not just a candidate; he’s a vision for a brighter future.

Let’s write a new chapter in the history of the LSK, one where your membership truly benefits you, where young lawyers find the support they need, where your concerns are heard, where corruption and inefficiency are eradicated, and where justice and equality prevail.

Pledge to vote for Keen Bar Now and let’s rewrite the future of the Law Society of Kenya together!

Admin

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Lawyers

George Kashindi: Top Statesperson in Commercial Law in 2024

Published

2 months ago

October 12, 2024

Admin

George Kashindi, Partner at Munyao, Muthama & Kashindi Advocates and Member, Tax Appeals Tribunal

Partner, Munyao Muthama & Kashindi Advocates (MMK) & Member, Tax Appeals Tribunal.

Practice Areas

Taxation and Revenue
Regulatory and Compliance
Advisory and dispute resolution
Compliance and Governance Audits
Public Procurement
Civil and Commercial Litigation
Arbitration
Energy and Natural Resources
Constitutional Law
Judicial Review
Employment and Labour Relations

Biography

George is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya with over 22 years of experience. He is a Partner of Munyao, Muthama & Kashindi Advocates (MMK Advocates) previously in charge of the Nairobi office (now on sabbatical) and Member of Tax Appeals Tribunal. George started his legal career in the well- known firm of Rachier and Amollo where he gained a wealth of experience in a broad spectrum of legal matters. Subsequent to leaving Rachier & Amollo, George trained at the Kenya Revenue Authority Training Institute for 2 years and thereafter worked at Kenya Revenue Authority as Senior Legal Counsel for 5 years. With this background, George has a very solid understanding of the tax policy and legislative framework and has many years’ experience in litigation, tax dispute resolution, tax investigations and prosecutions, interpretation of the tax statutes and advising on tax policy and legislation. He possesses a wealth of knowledge in dealings with senior revenue and treasury officials. He holds an LLM in Financial Services with a specialisation in tax and has acted in a number of jurisprudence setting tax matters.

George has extensive experience in regulatory and compliance advisory and litigation and has acted for a number of Kenya’s leading regulators including the Kenya Airports Authority, Communication Authority, Agriculture Food Authority, Energy Regulatory Commission, Kenya Forest Service, Engineers Board of Kenya, National Transport and Safety Authority, NGOs Coordination Board, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, National Hospital Insurance Fund to name but a few. He is well versed in regulatory law and practice, compliance and governance matters.

George has extensive experience in conducting legal, regulatory, compliance and governance audits and is respected in this field as a leading expert. He has conducted the audits on blue chip companies listed in the bourse, leading corporates, parastatals and other government entities among other clients. His previous and existing clients include Safaricom, Post Bank, Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), National Hospital Insurance Fund, and Technical University of Mombasa among others. The highly rated Legal, Compliance and Governance Audit practice headed by George is accredited by the Law Society of Kenya.

George also advises clients on public procurement, NGOs and Charities law, employment and labour relations, energy and natural resources, immigration among others. He is also in charge of running training portfolio of the firm.

Educational and professional qualifications

Bachelor of Laws, University of Nairobi 2000
Diploma in Law, Kenya School of Law 2001
Admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, 2002
Masters Degree in law (Financial Services Law), University of Nairobi 2017

Membership in professional associations

Law Society of Kenya

Career history

Pupilage: Rachier & Company Advocates, 2000-2001
Management Trainee: Kenya Revenue Authority Training Institute, 2001-2002
Senior Legal Counsel: Kenya Revenue Authority, 2002-2007
Partner: Munyao, Muthama & Kashindi- 2009 to date

Work Highlights

Legal, governance, compliance, regulatory audits.

Team leader in conducting legal, compliance and regulatory audits which entail It reviewed the client’s internal policies, practices and operations of the governing bodies and various departments to assess their compliance with the relevant laws including the Constitution, the establishing and regulating statutes and subsidiary legislation. The previous and existing clients include Safaricom, Post Bank, Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), National Hospital Insurance Fund, and Technical University of Mombasa, Kenya Literature Bureau, Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Post Office Savings Bank among others.
Team leader in reviewing the legal and policy frameworks to strengthen integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) in Kenya
Team leader of the corporate governance practice area and has been involved in reviewing clients’ corporate governance structures and giving advice on legal, compliance and governance requirements. He has offered tailor made presentations and training sessions to clients’ board members and senior executives on corporate governance and other applicable legal and compliance requirements.
Advised clients on risk assessment and implementation of risk mitigating measures relating but not limited to directors duties, anti-corruption/bribery, anti-money laundering among others.

Tax

Assisted a leading audit firm in challenging a tax assessment raised by KRA in excess ofKshs 600,000 million against an international NGO operating in the Kenya and the region. The case involved complex legal points relating to expatriate tax, installment tax, definition and meaning of residency and interpretation of a number of statutory provisions.
Acted for one of the largest Container Freight Terminals in Mombasa that had been shut down by the Commissioner of Customs Services after a huge assessment of tax. The case successfully challenged the Commissioner of Custom’s power to close the facility and addressed other complex customs legal issues.
Represented one of the largest private universities in successfully pursuing a waiver of tax penalties and interest resulting from an initial assessment of tax by KRA amounting to KShs. 70 million.
Represented a leading company operating in the horticultural sector in appealing a tax assessment of over Kshs 200 million.
Represented a leading Italian company headquartered in Rome Italy running a space research project in Malindi to successfully challenge enforcement action by KRA of freezing the company’s bank accounts. The case addressed developing jurisprudence of striking a proper balance between the enforcement powers of the tax man viv a vis the need to protect a tax payer from the risk of substantial hardship including total collapse due to enforcement action. The court was persuaded to set aside an earlier order for the client to furnish security of a substantial amount and granted an unconditional stay of enforcement action. The monetary exposure was over Kshs 160 million.
Represented a leading export trading company in challenging tax assessment in excess of Ksh 300 million and dealing with complex tax issues touching on various WTO rules including the non-discrimination principle, rules of origin, East African Common tariff classification, and an array of constitutional and administrative law issues.

Regulatory advisory and dispute resolution

Representing and advising an array of regulators of various sectors and public bodies on a wide range of issues and claims airing from their exercise of their regulatory and statutory mandates. Kenya Airports Authority, Communication Authority, Agriculture Food Authority, Energy Regulatory Commission, Kenya Forest Service, Engineers Board of Kenya, National Transport and Safety Authority, NGOs Coordination Board, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, National Hospital Insurance Fund to name but a few.

Energy

Represented a regulator in the energy sector against representative/class action public interest and consumer protection related claims made against the regulator and other players in the sector concerning several issues touching on electric power billing tariffs among other issues. The value of some of the matters in contention is over Kshs 10 billion.
Representing a regulator in the energy sector against a representative/class action public interest and consumer protection related claims made against the regulator and other government agencies touching on key issues in the energy sector such as power generation, power purchase agreements, deemed energy, financing of power generation projects, Government guarantees, electricity transmission and an array of constitutional issues. The value of the matters under consideration is over Kshs 100 billion.
Team leader in conducting a legal and regulatory audit of a leading player in the energy sector. The audit included visiting critical their installations across the country, reviewing local and international contractual agreements, advising on Power Purchase Agreements, reviewing board and management operations, identifying and advising on legal risks.
Acted for a Government entity operating in the energy sector in responding to compliance summons issued by a County Government relating to their installations within the county.
Acted for a company operating in the geothermal sector in defending a contractual claim of substantial amount of money relating to a multi-lateral donor- funded project for drilling and extraction of steam through the innovative well-head technology.

Public Procurement

Represented a leading Chinese firm which was a successful bidder in a multi-billion donor funded project for the Water and Sanitation Improvement project awarded by one of the public bodies operating in the water sector, in successfully opposing a challenge instituted by a losing bidder before the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board. The matter involved key procurement issues and jurisprudence touching on among other things, locus standi of applicants in a joint venture.
Representing the same Chinese firm in separate proceedings instituted by a different bidder but relating to the same award. Acted for the firm both before the Administrative Review Board and the High Court. The cases addressed notable public procurement matters including the Board’s jurisdiction in disputes emanating from donor funded projects and projects the subject to negotiated grants.
Represented a leading supplier and retailer of tyres and accessories before the Public Procurement and Appeals Review Board in dispute relating to a multi-million tender awarded by a public body in based in Mombasa and operating in the ports sector. The challenge succeeded before the Board but was subsequently overturned on appeal to the High Court.

Non-Governmental and Charities

Retained by several charitable, not for profit and religious organisations on an array of issues ranging from registration processes and documentation, regulatory compliance, tax advice, labour law matters, court representation and advice on contracting processes. Such NGOs include but not limited to Helpage, International Republican Institute, Food For the Hungry among others.

Employment and labour relations

Represented and advised an array of clients drawn from various sectors in a wide range of employment and labour related matters including representations in court, drafting of employee contracts, drafting and reviewing polices and manuals, advice on termination, dismissals, redundancies and restructuring, managing employee-exists, advice on collective bargaining and negotiations, secondment, outsourcing among others.

Lawyers

Josephine L.M. Righa: Hall of Fame Commercial Lawyer in 2024

Published

2 months ago

October 12, 2024

Admin

Josephine L.M. Righa is the Managing Partner of Josephine Righa Advocates.

Josephine L.M. Righa, the Managing Partner of Josephine Righa Advocates, has over 15 years of commercial and corporate law experience and was nominated as the Commercial Practitioner of the year 2023 at the Nairobi Legal Awards. She is listed in THE LAWYER AFRICA Commercial Lawyers Hall of Fame 2024 for her exemplary performance as a commercial lawyer acting for and representing top firms and businesses over the years. Previously, she was listed among the Top 100 Commercial Lawyers in Kenya in 2023.

Josephine has all round experience in commercial and corporate law gained from working as an in-house lawyer for a leading multinational, rising through the ranks from junior associate to the head of commercial and corporate law department of a leading law firm and founding her own commercial law boutique firm serving leading commercial clients and handling high value business transactions.

Josephine graduated in the year 2008 with a Bachelors of Laws Degree from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and commenced working as legal assistant for Coca-Cola Central East & West Africa Limited from the years 2009. In the year 2011, Ms. Righa pursued her Bar studies and now holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Law from Kenya School of Law.

She did her pupillage with the firm of Igeria and Ngugi Advocates and was promoted to Associate position upon her admission to the Bar in the year 2012. In the year 2014, she was promoted as a Senior Associate and the head of the Corporate and Commercial Practice of the firm, a position she held until July 2019. She founded Josephine Righa Advocates, a leading commercial and corporate law boutique in Kenya, where she serves as the Principal and Managing Partner

In addition she is a notary public, commissioner for oaths, a registered Patent Agent of the Kenya Intellectual Property Institute and is currently pursuing a Certified Public Secretaries (CPS) certification. She is also certified professional trainer in Legal Audits and Compliance, Corporate Governance, Private Public Partnerships and Contract Management & Administration (specifically trained on Contract Negotiation, Contract Drafting and review, Changes and Variations in Contracts, Dispute Avoidance & Resolution and Contract Administration Overview).

Josephine is keen on corporate governance issues and having been professionally trained by the Centre for Corporate Governance (CCG) Kenya and the Institute of Directors (IOD), Kenya, she now is an Associate Member of IOD-Kenya. Further, she is a certified professional mediator having been professionally trained by Mediation Training Institute (I) East Africa to mediate disputes in a variety of spheres including but not limited to commercial, workplace, community and family disputes.

Lawyers

Mwangi Kibicho: Top Statesperson in Commercial Law in 2024

Published

2 months ago

October 12, 2024

Admin

Mwangi Kibicho, Managing Partner of J.K. Kibocho & Co. Advocates and Top Commercial Lawyer in Kenya

Practice Areas:
Dispute Resolution, Commercial & Corporate Law.

Membership in professional societies:
Law Society of Kenya
East Africa Law Society

Email: mwangi@jkkibicho.co.ke

Credentials:
• MBA – Global Business Management (MBA – GBM), United States International University (USIU)
• Postgraduate Diploma in law, Kenya School of Law.
• Bachelor of Laws, LL.B (Hons), Moi University.

Mwangi Kibicho is a consummate and versatile advocate with a wealth of experience in legal matters. He demonstrates dynamism in his hands – on approach to the law. Having been in the legal practice since 2002, when he joined J.K. Kibicho & Advocates, he has risen through the ranks to the position of Managing Partner.

Work Experience

Advising a multinational corporation, which intended to invest in the lending pool in Kenya, on the legal aspects of off-shore lending and the legal procedures and structures on microfinance in Kenya.
Acting for a company in the transfer of 1,000 acres of its land in Naivasha to the Government of Kenya for the development of an industrial park being part of the Government’s targeted key elements of infrastructural growth.
Advising one of the first Drone Clubs in Kenya in registration of the drones, to engaging with several Kenya Civil Aviation officials for authorization and holding discussions on the proposed legal regulations of drones in Kenya.
Advising a client on the incorporation of its leading mortgage association in the country, engaging various stakeholders in the mortgage industry, and advising the client on the legal structures and impact of the same as well as making recommendations on the implementation of the association’s objectives.
Acting for a company in advising and preparing documentation for transfer of more than 10,000 acres of its land to its shareholders as non-cash dividends.
Acting for the leading management agency for small scale tea farmers in Kenya in their hydropower projects in various parts of the country, advising on project management analysis and review, engaging the involved stakeholders on the project execution, preparing and perfecting the necessary documentation.
Conducting high level research and advising a client in preparation of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Turkana County Government and a limited liability company incorporated in Kenya for exploration and development of the Barrier Volcanic Complex Geothermal in Turkana County, Katilia Ward.
Preparation, negotiation and registration of residential and commercial leases for various developments in the country.
Drafting and conducting high level negotiations of various contracts.
Attending to registration of trademarks for several large companies and individuals.
Advise and facilitating one of our major clients seeking to establish a Public Private Partnership on the government’s Affordable Housing Programme (AHP).
Conducting research and opinion writing to clients on various legal matters.
Setting up both internal and external legal and practice trainings as well as presentations.
Participating in the Commercial Practice Committee under the LSK, Nairobi Branch which seeks to set up proper practice standards related to Commercial law in Kenya and championing for harmonisation of the laws related to the same.
Participating in the Lands Registry Liaison Committee under the LSK, Nairobi Branch which seeks to identify and resolve the issues in the lands registries.