Wed 18 October 2023:
After winning dozens of cases, a student acting as a High Court lawyer was caught in Kenya. Despite being exposed as a phony, the man has reportedly demanded that he be admitted to the bar.
Prior to his latest arrest, Brian Mwenda “argued 26 cases before High Court Judges, Magistrates, and Court of Appeal Judges,” according to the Facts East Africa social media page, adding that he won all 26 cases.
On Thursday, legal officials in Kenya urged police to arrest a man practicing under the name “Brian Mwenda”.
They said the man was a “masquerader” who had stolen the identity of a real lawyer, named Brian Mwenda Ntwiga.
Local media reported that a “fake lawyer” had won dozens of lawsuits despite not being trained.
The case has captivated the East African country over the past few days, eliciting reactions from outrage to amusement.
Despite condemnation by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the country’s Director of Public Prosecutions, the alleged imposter has garnered several supporters.
His ruse was discovered when he attempted to sign in to the LSK database in September with an incorrect email address, the LSK said. Mwenda asked the society’s IT department for help logging in, prompting the department to check his credentials against those of the real Mwenda. When the mismatch was discovered, LSK staff alerted police, who launched a “manhunt” for the phoney attorney.
Mwenda’s current situation is unclear. Facts East Africa reported him arrested on Thursday, while the LSK’s statement called for his “immediate arrest,” implying that he is still free.
In a further twist, a man claiming to be Mwenda made a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, explaining that he “hacked into a website for lawyers and added my picture to make it seem like [I’m] a certified lawyer.”
A few people are speculating saying I never won the cases. I have proof that I've never lost a single case. Kenyans should understand papers aren't everything. No law school but I know and understand the laws. I've read the constitution. I won fair, confer me the honor pic.twitter.com/pliz6yvt58
— Counsel Brian Mwenda (@AdvocateMwenda) October 14, 2023
“The cases I won should be upheld,” he argued. “The law wasn’t depending on who was representing who. I put up strong arguments, produced evidence and presented logical reasoning.”
“The Courts should test my knowledge of law…and admit me to the bar,” he wrote. “Winning 26 cases without stepping in law school makes me a genius. Kenya has many professional Lawyers who’ve never won any case in a court of law or who can’t stand in the dock and defend a case.”
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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