The legal profession in Kenya has swelled its prestigious ranks with the admission of 198 new lawyers this week, who have passed the rigorous academic, practical and moral prerequisites for admission to the learned profession. Amongst these newly admitted learned ladies and gentlemen is Anne Okello of KaftanPost, East Africa Bureau.
Chief Justice David Maraga who presided over the ceremony in the apex court in Nairobi on Friday issued a public statement to welcome the new wigs:
“On the second day of admissions today, I presided over the admission of another 96 advocates, bringing the total to 198 new members who have joined the Bar. My hearty congratulations!” the Chief Justice said.
The admission ceremony, which has the hallmarks of the quintessence of the hallowed practices of the noble profession, also exemplified the immaculate adherence of the learned men and women to the extant laws and regulations governing mass gathering during this pandemic period, with all present, appropriately masked and observant of the requisite physical and social distances.
There is no sign however that officials, celebrants, family and friends were about to allow the strictures of the pandemic to dampen the celebratory atmosphere of these life-changing ceremonies as newly admitted lawyers turned out immaculately in their regulation black gowns and coats, white shirts, bibs and collar, for which lawyers are known in all of the common law jurisdictions, of which Kenya is one.
The East African largest economy was a British colony until her independence from Britain after decades of bloody agitation led by the legendary Jomo Kenyatta and brutal repression in reprisals by British colonizers.
However, since independence, Kenya, as other former British colonies, has retained the more appealing vestiges of their erstwhile colonial overlords such as the English language, jurisprudence, legal system and its quaint traditions, protocols and rituals.
Flanked by her parents, Mr and Mrs Okello and other family, friends and well-wishers, a new lawyer Anne Okello was effusive in her own sense of accomplishment on her joyous day, saying figuratively, “Today is my wedding day. I’m married to the law!”
The rigorous processes of admission of new lawyers in Kenya has however come increasingly under scrutiny because of the exorbitant costs of legal education and the seemingly exploitative requirement for “article” or “internship” by attachment to law chambers, which are very few, too selective and often with minimal or no pay, leaving many aspiring lawyers in the cold many years after completion of their law degrees from the universities and Law schools.
These increasing pre-admission difficulties are disproportionately affecting budding lawyers from less privileged backgrounds, the legal profession in Kenya being unrepentantly aristocratic and unapologetically discriminatory in favour of graduates from wealthy backgrounds often landing in Kenya with law degrees from foreign universities.
None of these existential challenges appear to weigh on the minds of those present at the venue of the admission to the Bar ceremonies where congratulations, adulation and optimism pervade the atmosphere as the new lawyers take their solemn oath of admission, a crowning culmination of nearly a decade of continuous studies and compliance with prerequisites.
As for lawyer Anne and the Okello party, the formal ceremonies were just the beginning of the day-long celebrations with after-parties and entertainment planned by family and friends all over the Kenyan capital, COVID-19 prevention protocols taming what would otherwise have been a series of private carnivals for Kenyans who are known for needing very little excuse to rollout the drums and drinks.
As for Anne Okello, the new lawyer, she has her eyes set for further studies where her love for business law now has a brilliant array of opportunities to crystallise a lifelong passion to a lifelong profession.
With visible joy and obvious relief, Anne had this to say in her response to KaftanPost reporter; “I feel 150% fulfilled and content and it’s like a burden lifted off my shoulders, onto to the next level.”
