Ahmednassir survives bid to probe his law qualifications
A bid by the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Ndegwa Muhoro to probe allegations that senior counsel Ahmednassir Abdullahi forged his qualification certificate was dismissed on Wednesday by a court.
The ramifications of the move was to block Mr Abdullahi from legal practise which he has survived.
But Milimani Law Courts senior principal magistrate Kenneth Cheruiyot said no cogent evidence was presented to him to prove allegations that Mr Abdullahi forged the signature of lawyer Peter Simani (now deceased) to endorse his qualification certificate to practise as an advocate of the High Court.
Mr Cheruiyot said allegations that Mr Abdullahi forged the signature of the late Mr Simani, who was killed by Al Shabaab terrorists at the Westgate Mall attack in Westlands Nairobi September 2014, to endorse his qualification have not been proved.
The magistrate said evidence presented before him alleged that “even Mr Simani did not have a practising certificate in 1992 when Mr Abdullahi was doing his pupilage at the law firm and therefore he could not sign any certificate of pupilage for the former Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Chairman”.
FORGED CERTIFICATE
Mr Cheruiyot said if that was the case then, it is not Mr Abdullahi who should be blamed but the deceased lawyer (Simani) under whose watch and supervision he practised for two years.
“If the deceased lawyer had not taken out a practising certificate from LSK to give him mandate to legally supervise Mr Abdullahi then the latter should not blamed. It’s the late Simani who should be held responsible and not Mr Abadullahi,” ruled the judge.
The DCI boss had filed an application seeking orders to enable him investigate the certificates of Mr Abdullahi alleging there was information that he does not qualify to be lawyer since he allegedly forged the qualification certificate.
The magistrate said Mr Abdullahi’s certificates had been verified and his name Gazetted before being admitted into the roll of advocates by the Chief Justice.
“If there was any anomaly in the certificates it could have been detected during the verification process before being sworn-in by the CJ,” Mr Cheruiyot ruled.
