The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has announced a nationwide protest on Friday, September 12, in response to the murder of prominent Nairobi lawyer Kyalo Mbobu, who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting along Magadi Road on Tuesday evening.
In a statement issued Wednesday, LSK President Faith Odhiambo said the peaceful Purple Ribbon March will begin at 9:00 am from the Milimani Law Courts and proceed through Kenyatta Avenue to Vigilance House, where a memorandum of grievances will be delivered to Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja.
“In collaboration with the Branch Caucus, the Purple Ribbon March will also be observed across all eight LSK branches countrywide,” Odhiambo said, urging members to participate and wear purple ribbons “in honour and solidarity.”
The legal fraternity is calling for swift investigations into Mbobu’s assassination, demanding justice and greater protection for lawyers.
“Our security agencies have an immediate duty to act decisively to put an end to this growing menace,” the LSK statement read. “Such calamitous levels of insecurity place our country at the precipice of lawlessness, a state we all bear a constitutional duty to protect our country from.”
Mbobu, a seasoned advocate with over 30 years of legal experience, was reportedly shot at close range by assailants on a motorbike at around 5:40 pm. The attackers sped off immediately after the shooting.
The Senior Counsel Bar (SCB), led by SC Philip Murgor, also condemned the murder, describing it as a likely professional hit. The SCB further drew attention to a decades-old land dispute case involving Captain (Rtd) Kung’u Muigai — a cousin of former President Uhuru Kenyatta — in which Mbobu was once an advocate.
Murgor questioned the timing of the murder, noting that on the same day Mbobu was killed, a post appeared online in which Muigai complained about the handling of the 33-year-old case over a disputed 443-acre farm in Thika.
“Is it a coincidence that he is then gunned down on the same day?” Murgor asked, urging the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to leave no stone unturned.
LSK has vowed to continue pressuring authorities until those responsible for Mbobu’s assassination are identified and prosecuted.
