Passing law exams in which more than half the class routinely fails is cause for celebration.
So, when 29-year-old Kennedy Mutua Mugambi got the news on Wednesday that he had passed all the nine examinable courses, he could not help but tweet about it.
“I am happy to announce that I passed my bar exams. I bagged the 9 Ps. Your taxi driver is going to be an advocate,” he posted.
Having been a taxi driver from July 2019 when he graduated from Kenyatta University’s law school, the success had the soft-spoken young man buzzing with joy.
By the time he was joining the Kenya School of Law (KSL) in January last year, he had cut his teeth in the taxi business, using the various apps in the market to get customers. December 2019, he recalls, was a particularly good month.
“I would make Sh3,000 to Sh3,500 a day. If you make Sh3,000, fuel will take around Sh1,000. From that Sh3,000, you take away a commission of about 20 per cent. Then you deduct credit and other expenses, and you go home with around Sh1,300 or Sh1,500,” Mugambi told Hot 96 last month.
He sat his final exams at KSL in June this year. By then, he had covered well over 90,000 kilometres as a taxi driver. He achieved this by attending morning classes that run from 9am to 1pm, then spend the rest of the day transporting clients.
“From 2pm, I would pick my classmates from school then go on with the business. I would go home at around 10pm,” Mugambi told the Sunday Nation.
Law degree
He is now undertaking pupillage at Laichena Mugambi and Ayieko Advocates in the city centre. He hopes to complete pupillage by December and be a full-fledged advocate in March next year at the earliest.
He uses his car to commute to the law firm. There, he said, he is given a “small stipend” for sustenance. He is there on weekdays from 9am to 5pm.
“I carry two or three clients in the evenings. Early in the morning, I wake up at 5am and ferry some clients to town. It’s convenient for me because I do not pay fare. Besides, I’m not struggling with fuel for the journey. At the same time, I’m making some money for lunch,” he said.
We were eager to know how he used the taxi to pay his fees at KSL and to get by. “I was sleeping for five hours a day or less,” he recalled.
Mugambi hails from Meru County. His father is a retired veterinary officer. Though he says his family is not the poorest, it is a huge one and that poses financial challenges.
By his side is his girlfriend Ada, who has also been chipping in whenever he needs a financial boost.
“As I was finishing my undergraduate, I remember it’s my girlfriend who helped me pay the fees for the last semester, which I later refunded,” he said. “Wednesday was her birthday, so I gave her the best birthday gift (the exam results).”
As soon as he had bagged his law degree from Kenyatta University, there were calculations to be done. A university degree is but one step towards being a lawyer. You need to study at KSL for a year then do the pupillage.
At KSL, he needed to pay Sh190,000. Of that, Sh145,000 is for tuition and Sh45,000 is for exams. The catch is that Sh90,000 has to be paid before being admitted. He also needed to pay his rent, eat, commute and live. His calculations saw him approach a bank to get a loan to buy the car.
“I acquired the car through a loan. I’m still paying it,” he said. “I would go to class and start my trips afterwards because I knew I needed to pay the loan. I also needed to pay my rent and feed myself. I had to juggle all these and pay my school fees.”
Big ambitions
He was servicing the loan relatively easily until the Covid-19 pandemic hit. He had to restructure his loan.
“I went back to the institution and topped up the loan. That sort of cleared the loan and then gave me another one to now be able to raise the Sh45,000 (for KSL exams) which I’m still paying,” he said.
When he gets his practising certificate and starts representing clients in court, would he want to continue with the taxi work?
“When I become a full-time lawyer, I might have to stop this because it’s also time consuming. I will go into helping other taxi drivers through litigation, because I feel like I must give something back to the industry that has helped me sustain myself. And I want to give back by fighting for their rights,” he said.
“There was this court verdict in the UK that declared taxi drivers to be employees,” he went on. “I think the same should happen here in Kenya. For a taxi driver to make the minimum wage, they have to work for very many hours. So, I feel like I should champion their rights until they get better working conditions. I’m preparing a constitutional petition alongside my classmates at KSL. They are helping me with the research and everything. I think that’s the best way I can give back to the industry.”
The case being developed aptly captures an area Mugambi wants to specialise in – commercial law.
“I have a keen interest in commercial law and tax,” he said. “If I manage to get the funds, I want to do a master’s in tax administration.”
That he is a man with big ambitions is not in doubt. For now, Mugambi is still celebrating his exam success. Those evenings he would spend watching class videos after a day of transporting clients – from cooperative ones who would become off-line customers to those who alighted without paying – paid off. The discussions with classmates paid off. Those sleep-deprived days were not all in vain. BY DAILY NATION