By Nelson Musungu, Bungoma
Five people suspected of being fake lawyers in Bungoma town were arrested today after an investigation involving the leadership of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), which facilitated their capture.
In a raid led by lawyer Steve Mbugua, who chairs the LSK’s Public Complaints Committee on fake lawyers, the five were arrested while conducting legal activities. He said they will be taken to court and charged.
Speaking to the media in Bungoma town after the raid, Steve Mbugua stated that the council has decided to conduct a crackdown with an aim of safeguarding the lawyer’s space of practice
“In today’s operation, we successfully apprehended five individuals who have been operating four separate law firms under the pretense of legitimacy, “Upon interviewing the suspects, it was established that these fake offices have been in operation for many years and have defrauded the public of millions of shillings,” he said.
In addition the council member revealed that they chose to do a search in Bungoma upon the request by the local leadership of the law society of Kenya (LSK) in the effort to weed out people imposing and pretending to be advocates conning members of the public.
Mbugua stated that during the search, they recovered serious documents such as title deeds, file cases in which its matters are pending in court which is a clear indication that these fake lawyers have been also appearing in court especially the virtual court sessions.
He added that during the raid, they noted that in some offices secretaries have modified stamps and receipts where they receive cash from clients without the knowledge of their bosses.
“It is very unfortunate that we continue witnessing this especially in our upcountry, the Law Society of Kenya has made it a permanent resolute to weed out all masqueraders out of these profession and to safeguard the public interests pursuit to section IV of the LSK act which mandates us to weed out and protect this space of practice,” he said
Lawyer Mbugua has warned residents against failing to thoroughly verify lawyers they seek legal help from, noting a rise in fake lawyers deceiving people seeking legal services.
“To verify whether a legal service provider is one of our members, simply input the name of the individual claiming to be an advocate, we will provide their photographs, license validity details, and office location,” he stated
He says the society has put in place various teams which are working in coordination with the national office to ensure that those who have been arrested have not re-opened their offices in case they are given a bail in court.
However, he also called on licensed lawyers who own law offices to closely monitor activities in their premises, stating that some of these offices are being used to carry out illegitimate operations.
The suspects were taken to Bungoma police station for processing…..
