Why LSK meeting to eject Havi may flop

 

The planned Law Society of Kenya meeting to eject its president Nelson Havi may not fly after various factors erected roadblocks to impede it.

The annual general meeting was slated for March 27, but all signs suggest it may not be held. Top on the agenda is the removal of Havi from office.

A section of the society’s council had voted to suspend him early last month and had set the date of the AGM to let Havi defend himself.

The notice of motion said the meeting would let the president be heard “in person or through an advocate of his choice and thereafter a decision made by the general meeting through a vote of all members attending the meeting both physically and virtually.”

Other matters to be considered are the election of a replacement of Roselyne Odede, the council member who resigned in protest during the January special general meeting citing frustrations by Havi.

Vice president Carolyne Kamende, who is aligned to the camp loyal to Havi, told the Star the meeting had not been legally constituted and hence cannot go on.

“It is our firm view that the AGM was ill-conceived because it does not meet the legal threshold according to the primary Act,” she said.

Kamende said that according to the law, the AGM could only proceed if the audited accounts are ready to be presented for members’ consideration. Currently, she added, there are no such accounts as the AGM of July last year had rejected the 2020 accounts.

She also said that the meeting that planned for the AGM was illegal as it was not chaired by Havi.

At the same time, the society’s chief executive Mercy Wambua confirmed to the Star on Tuesday that there were uncertainties whether the meeting would go on, citing financial constraints at the society as well as the new restrictive Covid-19 protocols.

“As things stand, there is no certainty whether the AGM will be there,” she said.

“Financial constraints at the society plus the new Covid-19 regulations that ban meetings attended by more than 100 persons make it untenable,” she said.

The unspoken part is the leadership wrangles at the lawyers’ lobby as the council cannot meet to consider the financial needs to mount the meeting. Even the service providers who supplied the January 18 SGM have not been paid.

Currently, basic services at the secretariat are paralysed as officials responsible for approving payments are in warring camps.

This has seen services such as security  as well as electricity bills remain unpaid for February and March. BY THE STAR