Legal Village

Offering hope in a troubled country

Posted 10/01/2008 by Andrew Holroyd

In December, if you had asked the average person to name an African country that would shortly be on the brink of political and social breakdown, few would have guessed Kenya.

Only four months ago I myself travelled to Nairobi to fly the flag for the profession in England and Wales at the Commonwealth Law Conference. Inside the plenary hall we were well aware of, but blinded from, the high crime and poverty in the poorest areas of the city, yet I nevertheless thought here was a country where the rule of law was secure. Since then events have, of course, taken a drastic turn and I am getting regular updates from the President of the Kenyan Law Society, Eric Omogeni. I have assured him we will do anything we can to help them.

It was at the Commonwealth Law Conference that I first met a remarkable lady from Africa, Beatrice Mtetwa, President of our sister society, the Law Society of Zimbabwe. While the eyes of the world are now on Kenya and Pakistan, television pictures still have to be smuggled out of Zimbabwe and it has fallen off the world media’s radar.

Beatrice and her colleagues, the few lawyers that remain in Zimbabwe, do an incredible job upholding the rights of their fellow citizens. They operate in the face of the most acute personal dangers and are amongst the only people left keeping the flame of the rule of law burning. The contrast between how we play a central role in the public sphere and their struggle for survival couldn’t be starker.

Before Christmas we launched a campaign to raise £100,000 to help the Law Society of Zimbabwe carry on its vital work. The money will go straight into helping the lawyers there by helping to put in place regional officers for the Zimbabwean Law Society and give them the technology and training they need. There is no better example of the Law Society of England and Wales’ broader engagement and it complements all the work we undertake domestically, be it securing a better money laundering regime or lobbying on the Legal Services Act.

I would like to thank everyone who has already made a donation, large or small. So far we have raised well over £70,000 for the Law Society’s charity - an incredible effort that speaks volumes for the generosity of the profession in England and Wales.

We hope to raise the remaining money by the end of January and you can find out how you can help by clicking here. I can think of no better way to give our fellow lawyers in a troubled country new hope and cheer in the New Year.