Growing up, Harriet Njoki Mboce was a slender, soft-spoken but a brainy and firm child.
When wronged, she would follow up the matter for redress.
Now a PhD holder and teacher of maritime law at the University of Nairobi, she has remained largely skinny, soft-spoken and a thoughtful high achiever.
She told the Star that in her formative years, she had a soft spot for helping people.
Born at Kilindini harbour in Mombasa, with their home overlooking the Kenya Navy base in Mtongwe, Mboce had a dream of enlisting in the navy and helping sea men.
But her father had other thoughts.
“He was hesitant in allowing me go that route, fearing that being a girl, it may have not be the best career for me,” she told the Star.
Thankfully, one of her siblings was studying law and this racked up her interest in listening to law-related issues.
And many years down the line, Mboce studied law.
She was admitted to the bar in 2015. The 37-year-old later earned a masters degree in international investment and a doctorate in maritime space.
In between her teaching, consultancy and trial advocacy as a lawyer, Mboce has waded into politics and is vying to be the president of the Law Society of Kenya. Elections will be held on February 29.
The Star interviewed her on her vision for the society.
Excerpts:
What unique achievement in your life are you most proud of?
I have achieved many things, but chief among them is the creation of a maritime centre at the University of Nairobi at the height of the Uhuru Kenyatta-administration’s effort to mainstream blue economy. I was with one more colleague and we did the heavy lifting of literally building the centre from scratch.
Being a new area and arising from my PhD, I found pleasure in establishing the centre and getting it running so that we explore the new areas of maritime law and train new brains in this area.
My technical competence in maritime space issues is a fulfilment of my childhood dream of working as a naval officer. Though I’m not a naval officer, I work with them because I train them and I find fulfilment in this.
Let me also add here that every case I take in my law firm tends to focus on noble areas of law that actually solve problems in strengthening our democracy. In 2017, I took up the case about nominations and party lists, and the issues surrounding party hopping. I was proud that my advocacy resulted in buttoning up the issues in the area, with the court holding with finality that if you are elected on a given party ticket, you must seek fresh mandate if you choose to decamp to another party.
You seem young. Why are in this race for LSK presidency?
I hear that question about me being young a lot, but it is not accurate. I’m 37 and I have done research about the age of previous LSK presidents and I’m not the youngest. I won’t make news in that regard.
There has been a president who was just 28 and others much younger than me. But the issue of age aside, I have been in this current council, led by Eric Theuri, and I must say we could have done better. The standards were quite low for this council because we only needed to be a little calmer and orderly than the previous council and that would pass for stellar performance.
My vision is a bold and firm bar that is action-oriented. I want to be front and centre in standing up to the executive in its excesses and defending the rule of law and championing the welfare of advocates.
I want to use by institution building skills in nurturing LSK as an institution, link it up with strategic partners and fight for what is right. I’m the leader who will take the society to the next level.
How about the criticism that you are heavy-handed with your students, giving them failing grades and having a number of them expelled?
Not true. I look at that as an accountability issue. Advocates and the country will be better served with an LSK president who is keen on standing up for what is right and holding duty-bearers accountable.
I’m a strict teacher and a majority of my students love me, but there are a few who may not because they may have been on the wrong side of the law or a rule that I firmly implemented.
No one is happy when an accountability decision is made against them, but majority who see that justice was served, approve of it.
In my class, I’m firm against those who bully others, those who harass others and those who do not want to follow the rules, like attending class and sitting exams.
I’m also keen for my students to give the specific law or the article of the Constitution to back their claims when having class discussion, so they become solid advocates and opinion shapers who base their punditry or decision on evidence and not mere propaganda. If you are looking for an accountability candidate, here I am.
Are you a partisan actor in this race?
I’m not a partisan actor in this campaign but as the president of the law society, nothing will stop me from forging partnerships with other players, whoever they may be, in pursuing our objectives.
If such partners are in the political space, and their objective is aligned with ours as the society and the interest of advocates, so be it.
As the president, I will lobby the government to achieve our objective and team up with opposition if their agitation is for the rule of law, cost of living and other matters of mutual public interest.