Fake Lawyer Brian Mwenda Detained Until Monday

Brian Mwenda, a university student accused of impersonating a lawyer and practising law without the required certifications, has been detained until Monday, October 23.

Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina of the Milimani Law Courts adjourned the case until Monday next week when his lawyers will argue on his bail application.

The prosecution and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), which was allowed to be part of the case in which Mwenda was charged with impersonating an Advocate of the High Court, concluded their submissions opposing his release on bail.

Mwenda will therefore spend the long weekend which includes Mashujaa Day on Friday, October 20, at Industrial Area prison until October 23.

Mike Sonko visits Brian Mwenda in police custody on October 19, 2023. /MIKE SONKO

The prosecution had earlier asked the court to deny Mwenda bail, arguing that if granted bail, he would not attend court proceedings.

The court was told that Mwenda’s conduct demonstrates that he has no regard for the law and that he evaded the police for more than four days.

“The accused has caused members of the public to believe it is possible to get away with a criminal activity given how he managed to evade arrest and releasing him on bond will send the wrong message," the prosecution stated.

The prosecution also submitted that investigations are still ongoing and Mwenda might be charged with other criminal offences.

LSK on its part claimed that former Nairobi Governor, Mike Sonko, made plans for Mwenda to attend university out of the country, adding that if released on bail it's possible that he will not attend the proceedings.

Mwenda appeared in court on Wednesday, October 18 in the company of Sonko and Kenya Universities Students' Organisation (KUSO) President Antony Manyara after he was grilled by detectives at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu Road for over 10 hours.

He pleaded not guilty to six charges including identity theft, forgery, and fraudulently acquiring a Certificate of Admission among others.

In the first count, he is charged with intent to deceive, knowingly and fraudulently making a false document namely a certificate of admission p.105/21249/22 in the name of Brian Mwenda N. He allegedly purported it to be a certificate of Admission to practice as an Advocate of the High Court duly issued by the deputy registrar of the High Court.

Mwenda is said to have committed the offence between August 30, 2022, and March 3, 2023, at an unknown place within the country.

He faces another charge of fraudulently uttering a forged certificate of Admission in the name of Brian Mwenda N on March 3, 2023, at the law firm of Mwangi Kiai LLP Advocates offices in Westlands within Nairobi.

The accused was further charged with making a fake practising certificate for the year 2023 in the name of Brian Mwenda N. purporting it to be a practising certificate issued by the chief registrar of the judiciary.

The court heard on October 9, at the law firm of Micheka Omwenga and company advocates offices, that the accused person forged a practising certificate for the year 2023.

Mwenda is also alleged that on August 14, 2023, at an unknown place, he fraudulently and dishonestly used Advocates Admission, a unique identifier, assigned to Brian Mwenda Ntwiga, an Advocate of the High Court,  to gain access to and use the LSK online advocates account belonging to Ntwiga purporting to be him.

LSK President Eric Theuri earlier accused Mwenda of impersonating a lawyer, stating that he should be jailed to serve as an example to future masqueraders.

Hours earlier, Mwenda's father, Arnold Njagi, dismissed LSK's claims insisting that he pursued a diploma course in criminology in 2016 which enabled him to join Strathmore University in 2017 and graduate in 2020.