LSK: How Brian Mwenda Breached Law System To Represent Maina Njenga

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has issued a comprehensive statement detailing how Brian Mwenda used all manner of extraordinary tricks to infiltrate its systems and begin practising law, reportedly winning 26 cases.

LSK convened an emergency council meeting on Thursday, October 12 to discuss the issue of identity theft of one of its members, Brian Mwenda Ntwiga, by the impostor whom some reports highlighted was known for his suave appearance, impeccably groomed facial hair, and mastery of sartorial finesse.

The meeting was prompted by the information received from the LSK Secretariat, that the issue underwent investigations from the moment Ntwiga raised an alarm with the society regarding the matter.

Ntwiga was admitted to the Bar on August 5, 2022, and the information supplied upon admission was picked from the Judiciary Advocates Management System (JAMS). Furthermore, his correct email address was captured and an Account was opened for him in the Advocates portal.

Brian Mwenda Njagi flagged by the Law Society of Kenya-Nairobi branch as a fake lawyer. /MIKE SONKO

"We have since reached out to Advocate Brian Mwenda Ntwiga who confirmed that he had not applied for a practising certificate since his admission, the reason being that he had been working at the Office of the Attorney General and did not require a Practising Certificate. It was only until sometime in September 2023 when he attempted to login into the system and activate his profile with the intention of applying for his Practising Certificate that he realized he could not access his LSK Portal," stated LSK in part.

LSK, through President Eric Theuri, further noted that Ntwiga alerted ICT personnel on September 28, 2023, who upon inquiry noted that the details in the system, more particularly his email address did not belong to him hence the reason why he was locked out of his Membership portal.

The ICT Department resolved the issue and commissioned an internal investigation to determine how the email address could have been changed in breach of the established protocols.

Brian Mwenda's Computer Tricks

The Council astoundingly discovered that the impostor, Mwenda, used a common international fraud scheme known as Business Email Compromise (BEC) where he identified a genuine advocate status as being inactive, made contact to the secretariat to make an application for payment of his Practising Certificate but which he couldn't because his email credentials are incorrect.

"Upon being allowed access to the account he took control of the portal and changed his profile picture, and the workplace and applied and paid for the practising certificate. However, his application was not processed since he was required to provide documents including the certificate of business incorporation which is an additional security measure which unless supplied and verified the application cannot be processed," Theuri added.

Theuri, though reiterating that LSK's portal was not compromised and members' data remains safe and protected, stated that the society commenced an immediate review of the established protocols for change of membership credentials to enhance the internal control/ approval mechanisms.

LSK also involved the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) with an appeal to track down Mwenda and all his accomplices with the goal of arresting them.

"The Council of the Law Society recognizes that masqueraders pose a serious threat to the practice of law and is determined to take decisive action to deal with this issue. We call on members to remain vigilant and inform the Secretariat or their respective Branches of any cases of suspected masqueraders for investigation and apprehension," he added.

"We have further in cognizance of the challenges of investigating, tracing and arresting masqueraders, in the budget for the financial year 2024 made provisions for funds to support the weeding out of masqueraders."

The authorities were yet to respond to the matter of Mwenda, whose fate by the time of publishing this story remains unknown.

Mwenda Success Rate & Maina Njenga

He is reported to have litigated a number of cases in Kenyan courts, with an impressive win rate. Other than his alleged victory in 26 cases across various courts, Mwenda reportedly commanded respect before Magistrates, High Court, and Court of Appeal Judges, winning every single case until his secret was exposed by LSK on Thursday evening.

Mwenda has been trending on social media, with mixed reactions across the board regarding how he recorded an impressive record and even represented former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga in court a few months back, all without being part of LSK and going through the bar exam, termed by many as one of the most rigorous in the world.

Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) expressed their support for Mwenda. Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko offered to sponsor him to attend studies at the Kenya School of Law (KSL)

Kenya University Students' Organisation (KUSO) established, "allegedly, that he is a Second Year COMRADE from Chuka University Pursuing Criminology."

"He is a true testimony of what hustling means. If your degree or course doesn’t make ends meet, it's time to change goalposts," stated KUSO on social media.