Last weekend, the spectacular in Kampala, Uganda, hosted the 29th Annual Conference and AGM of the East Africa Law Society.
The cuisine was top notch, but on the menu was the bigger matter of the EALS presidential elections, and it was Kenya’s for the throne.
Two lawyers were competing: the controversial and well-known Nelson Havi, and the little-known Ramadhan Abubakar.
Indeed, Mr Abubakar is so little- known that not many Kenyans would pick him out from a crowd of two!
And yet, by the time the chips were down at the lakeside resort, he had won the presidential contest.
At age 38, he was the youngest jurist elected president of the regional legal body.
The Kenyan lawyer had pulled off a ruthless move his opponent couldn’t have seen coming.
Truth be told, the new EALS President has been hiding in plains sight. Admitted to the bar in 2012, Abubakar first started working in Kitale at Kidiavai and Company Advocates, where, he had to take a motorcycle as pillion passenger to work.
In 2013, he moved to Kerugoya, to work for Magee Law LLP, where he spent nine years, rising from associate to partner.
While working in Kerugoya, Abubakar won a case at the Embu High Court, which made all medical P3 forms in Kenya free.
He was appearing for the Law Society of Kenya in that 2018 case.
He subsequently moved to JK Kibicho Advocates, where he was headhunted as a partner in 2022.
Before that, he had already been honoured by his fraternity colleagues, when elected vice chair of the Mt Kenya chapter of the LSK in 2018.
He held the post unopposed for four years.
Abubakar now runs his own law firm. In November 2022, at the EALS congregation in Arusha, Tanzania, the young jurist was elected vice president, defeating 10 other candidates.
This victorious gathering, attended by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu, inspired the VP’s dream of winning the presidency of the regional legal body in two years.
Like clockwork, when the hour for transition came, a combination of top strategy and impeccable inter-personal skills, worked for Abubakar, who defeated his more experienced competitor hands down.
It is a rare feat for a branch vice chair of a national society to rise to the presidency of the regional society.
The Embu-born lawyer packs great credentials. He was voted the Pro Bono Lawyer of the years in 2019, an award by both Amnesty International and the LSK.
His human-interest pro bono litigation is one of the finest across the land.
In October this year, he crowned it by winning a land case against the KDF, saving more than 20,000 people from eviction in Isiolo county.
The long-running legal saga had shown no sign of a quick resolution before Abubakar stepped in.
There is a quest for young leadership in all spheres and sectors across the world, in seeking to move with the changing times and instil fresh ideas into corporate management.
By electing Abubakar, born on July 22, 1986, in Embu county, the EALS is putting its votes where its mouth already is.
The need for progressive, young liberals in positions of influence, cannot be gainsaid.
The East African region has been notorious for the Big Man syndrome in an ageing variety, but there’s a new dawn of fresh ideas appealing to the voter.
The EAC has been in the news in recent times over trade spats between its member states, which point to an uneasy integration framework, and perhaps weak legal strategies in creating regional harmony.
The EALS has stated that part of its mission and vision is to develop the capacity of the legal profession to respond to emerging challenges to business, governance and trade.
A young, vibrant president with such outstanding integrity is a big step forward.
The new president has his work cut out for him.
If his society is to help fast-track regional integration, he must bravely lead from the front to help create an environment for a strong regional bar.
Such a bar which will enhance access to justice for East Africans, make the East African Court of Justice more relevant, and bravely tackle the socio-political and cultural issues that drag the region down.
EAC institutions such as EALA and EACJ could more progress with a closer partnership with their EALS cousin.
Abubakar has served as chairman of the ODM Disciplinary Committee, and understands the place of discipline in both career advancement and in people management.
Such a glittering career and rise within a short time wouldn’t have been possible without this achievement.
He has promised to serve while upholding the EALS guiding principles of excellence, professionalism, integrity, innovation and customer-focus.
As he will soon find out, saying it is the easy part, but doing it will require unmatched focus and indomitable spirit, in a challenging environment.
The EAC region is notorious for cut-throat politics and disputed elections. Underlying this is the universally held view that legal frameworks for resolving electoral disputes do not offer reassurance that electoral platforms are free from manipulation.
This view leaves residents with the bitter feeling that justice is a foreign concept. But democracy and justice must be cousins, for the sake of sustainability of the states.
This is one area in which the EALS, through its new president, must be steadfast and become the strong voices of the masses in mainstreaming socio- political justice.
The times have changed. There is a young and restless generation in public sphere right now, emphatically addressing their needs and aspirations.
Besides, they communicate easily via social media and mobilise easily at minimal cost.
This is the generation that will hold institutions such as EALS to account as they set their eyes on the future.
I hold that Ramadhan Abubakar is a perfect choice for EALS president in this fast-evolving scene, where youth and resilience combine easily with technology and innovation, to create a potent new world order.
That gathering over the weekend in Munyonyo has given the region perhaps the best president it could have had, and it will be interesting to watch how the regional society sets about being a force in the reform journey desperately needed the by the EAC bloc.
by STAR