Key lessons LSK can learn from COTU
By Bruno Otiato
That the influence of the erstwhile revered Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has gone down to almost inconsequential sequential is not in doubt. And, unfortunately, Nelson Havi, the youthful, antagonizing and covertly ambitious former LSK president seems to be the one who drove the last nail in the LSK coffin.
However, what is not in question is that the membership of this society is, arguably, said to be learned. Therefore, it baffled the minds of many when the LSK membership and leadership behaves in a juvenile and uncouth manner.
On the contrary, unlike LSK, the Central Organization of Trade Unions in Kenya, COTU (K), has over the years grown not just in membership but also in influence and stability. That COTU has an invisible hand in the politics and policies affecting workers is not in question.
[caption id="attachment_10569" align="alignnone" width="1620"]
File image of COTU boss Francis Atwoli.[Photo: Courtesy][/caption]For instance, since Francis Atwoli took over as the Secretary-General of COTU, the membership has grown from 300,000 to around 4,000,000 members. His firm and almost abrasive stand on politics and workers’ issues has never gone unnoticed.
Now I ask. How come the LSK, with a very educated membership and a lot of resources and influence, has weak leadership and almost zero influence on serious issues of national concern? Consider these arguments.
First, the issue of seniority is as important in the legal profession as it is important in the labour movement. In the legal profession, this is so important that junior advocates, for a very long time, were not allowed to occupy front benches in the courts. It goes further to even recognize seasoned advocates by awarding them titles such as Senior Counsel.
In the labour movement, seniority is observed in the rank and file of the union’s leadership. It is assumed, generally, that experience comes with time. That, for instance, having have negotiated more CBAs and attended several meetings on labour rights one would understand issues facing workers in a multifaceted manner. This explains why the top leadership of many unions, globally, is not filled with young blood.
To be a youth is good. But at the same time, to be a youth is to be reckless, over-ambitious and daring. And that is the first problem facing the LSK.
The influence that the LSK enjoyed in the 1990s has waned simply because they have, over the years, been having a leadership that is reckless, over-ambitious and daring. LSK has overtly and covertly dismissed seniority replacing it with the vibrancy of young blood.
Look at Havi, for instance, with about fifteen months into office, he had already declared interest in the position of Member of Parliament for Westlands in the August polls.
Secondly, and closely related to the first point, is the issue of term limits. As a country, we must ask ourselves whether or not all professional bodies and leadership positions ought to adopt term limits. Should members of parliament and county assemblies, for instance, have term limits? Methinks it’s when you introduce term limits that you end up, many times, forcing good and stable leadership out and thus inviting young and inexperienced persons to lead and by extension create chaos.
[caption id="attachment_13626" align="alignnone" width="1100"]
File image of new LSK President Eric Theuri. |Courtesy| The Nation|[/caption]
Labour movements, globally, avoid term limits for purposes of strengthening seniority and avoiding facing out good, experienced and respected leadership from the movement.
But if the LSK wants to maintain term limits while at the same time encouraging seniority, methinks they should champion for making the study of law a second degree. This won’t be new as it’s the practice in the United Kingdom, India and the US. What we have currently are brilliant but immature lawyers who are ballooning and taking over the noble legal profession with complete disregard to norms and practices. Within no time, and considering the majority members of the LSK are young, the LSK constitution will be amended to encourage even more youthful leadership. And this in itself is a crisis.
I am thus inviting the LSK council under the leadership of their president Eric Theuri to benchmark with the labour movement in Kenya, through its Secretary-General Francis Atwoli, on the most immediate and necessary steps they can take towards strengthening and reviving the LSK of the 1990s.
File image of COTU boss Francis Atwoli.[Photo: Courtesy][/caption]For instance, since Francis Atwoli took over as the Secretary-General of COTU, the membership has grown from 300,000 to around 4,000,000 members. His firm and almost abrasive stand on politics and workers’ issues has never gone unnoticed.
Now I ask. How come the LSK, with a very educated membership and a lot of resources and influence, has weak leadership and almost zero influence on serious issues of national concern? Consider these arguments.
First, the issue of seniority is as important in the legal profession as it is important in the labour movement. In the legal profession, this is so important that junior advocates, for a very long time, were not allowed to occupy front benches in the courts. It goes further to even recognize seasoned advocates by awarding them titles such as Senior Counsel.
In the labour movement, seniority is observed in the rank and file of the union’s leadership. It is assumed, generally, that experience comes with time. That, for instance, having have negotiated more CBAs and attended several meetings on labour rights one would understand issues facing workers in a multifaceted manner. This explains why the top leadership of many unions, globally, is not filled with young blood.
To be a youth is good. But at the same time, to be a youth is to be reckless, over-ambitious and daring. And that is the first problem facing the LSK.
The influence that the LSK enjoyed in the 1990s has waned simply because they have, over the years, been having a leadership that is reckless, over-ambitious and daring. LSK has overtly and covertly dismissed seniority replacing it with the vibrancy of young blood.
Look at Havi, for instance, with about fifteen months into office, he had already declared interest in the position of Member of Parliament for Westlands in the August polls.
Secondly, and closely related to the first point, is the issue of term limits. As a country, we must ask ourselves whether or not all professional bodies and leadership positions ought to adopt term limits. Should members of parliament and county assemblies, for instance, have term limits? Methinks it’s when you introduce term limits that you end up, many times, forcing good and stable leadership out and thus inviting young and inexperienced persons to lead and by extension create chaos.
[caption id="attachment_13626" align="alignnone" width="1100"] File image of new LSK President Eric Theuri. |Courtesy| The Nation|[/caption]
Labour movements, globally, avoid term limits for purposes of strengthening seniority and avoiding facing out good, experienced and respected leadership from the movement.
But if the LSK wants to maintain term limits while at the same time encouraging seniority, methinks they should champion for making the study of law a second degree. This won’t be new as it’s the practice in the United Kingdom, India and the US. What we have currently are brilliant but immature lawyers who are ballooning and taking over the noble legal profession with complete disregard to norms and practices. Within no time, and considering the majority members of the LSK are young, the LSK constitution will be amended to encourage even more youthful leadership. And this in itself is a crisis.
I am thus inviting the LSK council under the leadership of their president Eric Theuri to benchmark with the labour movement in Kenya, through its Secretary-General Francis Atwoli, on the most immediate and necessary steps they can take towards strengthening and reviving the LSK of the 1990s. What's Your Reaction?
