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Lawyer Faith Odhiambo elected LSK president

Lawyer Faith Odhiambo elected as the new Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president. (Joseph Ndunda)

By Joseph Ndunda | Thursday, February 29, 2024

She replaces the outgoing president Eric Theûri and becomes the 51st president.

Lawyer Faith Odhiambo is the new Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president.

Lawyer Elisha Ndemo, an observer in the polls, said Odhiambo garnered more than 3,000 votes, beating her closest rival, Peter Wanyama who got slightly over 2,000 votes in the hotly contested election.

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She replaces the outgoing president, Eric Theuri, and becomes the 51st president.

Ndemo says the remaining votes can't change the results, but the final tally will be announced shortly after the exercise is completed.

Wanyama has already conceded defeat in a statement on social media.

Lawyers countrywide were voting to elect the society's president, council, and representatives to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) among others.

The elections conducted by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) started Thursday morning and ended after 7 pm. Tallying is ongoing at the LSK offices along Gitanga Road in Nairobi.

The LSK president's seat attracted five candidates, including Odhiambo and Wanyama, who were the frontrunners.

Others are lawyers Harriet Njoki Mboce, Carolyne Kamende, and Bernhard Ng'etich Kipkoech.

Theuri is vying for the JSC representative post.

In Nairobi, the elections were held at the Milimani Law Courts and the Supreme Court.

Speaking to the press after voting, Odhiambo and Mboce said there was a stalemate at the beginning of the elections over identification documents to be used for voting because some eligible voters were being disenfranchised by turning up without a national identity card (ID).

The IEBC required the advocates to have a national ID to be allowed to participate in the exercise, but the two contestants said a consensus was reached to allow voters to identify themselves using their passports.

"The passport has a biodata section where an individual's ID number is indicated," Odhiambo said.

Lawyer Ishmail Nyaribo who was vying for a JSC male representative raised concerns over the integrity of the exercise, saying there were already rejected votes at the Supreme Court polling station even before the voting started.

"The voting is going well, but there are a few teething problems we found at the Supreme Court where there were rejected cards with IEBC stamps, yet it was the first time the cards were being issued. I think the IEBC must up their game and do it correctly. But so far so good," the lawyer said.