• They said Parliament passes many bills without Kenyans knowing about them.
• “Government is passing illegal and unconstitutional laws and no one will dare question them,” lawyer Okoko said.
Image: BRIAN OTIENO
Lawyers in Mombasa have said they will offer free civic education to residents so they know their rights.
Members of the Mombasa Law Society on Saturday said this training will be part of their contribution to the Gen Z movement that seeks politics with integrity and wants to set Kenya on the straight path to economic prosperity.
Brian Okoko, a lawyer and member of the MLS, said despite the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution, the venerated document has been gathering dust in the minds of the political class in the country.
“Now Gen Z are asking the right questions with answers in Constitution of Kenya. Before that, questions could not be asked because people feared being silenced. Now the fear is gone,” he said.
The lawyers said the Gen Z movement is now a philosophy and a way of life that should hold leaders accountable.
Speaking after a forum in which they sought to ensure their contribution to a new Kenya is significant, the lawyers said Parliament passes many bills, without Kenyans getting to know about them.
These bills, they said, eventually turn out to be unfavourable to the public, who mostly are not consulted when legislation is drafted.
“People have grown in fear in this country to the extent that those in government have always been doing as they please. The Mombasa Law Society has been part of it [Gen Z movement] and we shall continue being part of it,” he said.
The lawyers said most of the leaders got into positions using fake certificates and are now leading elite minds, an unthinkable situation.
The rot, they said, is not only in the national government but also in county governments.
“We are telling the governor of Mombasa, since you came to power. we have not seen anything that you are doing for the people of Mombasa,” Okoko said.
“Be ready to account for the funds, the taxes, the policies that you pass and we will follow them up to the implementation stage. We are going to occupy the governor’s residence very soon. We will marshal Gen Zs to occupy the governor’s residence, the county assembly buildings and start asking the right questions.”
Titus Mutugi, also an advocate and member of MLS, said they will legitimise the Gen Z movement by lending it a professional outlook.
“We will play our roles as advocates and people who are placed in charge of interpreting laws and bills. We are going to play that role through civic education,” Mutugi said.
He noted this conforms to the principles and objectives of the Gen Z movement, which will have empowered minds.
Mutugi said in most public participation fora, there usually are not enough representation of lawyers who can interpret bills and laws.
The lawyers say they will now take the public through civic education before they attend any public participation forum.
Noah Randiek, an MLS member, said the dissolution of the Cabinet and the resignation of the Inspector General of Police is not enough to silence the “Ruto Must Go” chants across the country.
“This cannot happen while bodies are still being retrieved from quarries,” Randiek said.
He was referring to the dismembered bodies that were retrieved from the Kware quarry in Nairobi’s Mukuru kwa Njenga slums.
The lawyer said abductions have been on the rise, ever since the Gen Z anti-government protests began, calling them a dark spot in the country.
“All these are ongoing while the President is still not admitting to the failures of those that he is sending home,” Randiek said.
He said the dissolved Cabinet had been full of people who had been doing his bidding.
Image: BRIAN OTIENO
Image: BRIAN OTIENO