As the NBA annual general conference begins in less than 48 hours, many Nigerian Lawyers are looking forward to the arrival of PLO Lumumba from Kenya and coming face to face with the man who has taken it as a task to wake the whole of Africa from a dangerous slumber. His passion for Africa is infectious. His speeches are motivational and inspirational. Lumumba’s presence is seen as a high point in the conference which will last for six days.
Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba is the Director of The Kenya School of Law. Who previously served as the Director of Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission from September 2010 to August 2011.He holds a LL.D in Laws of the sea from the University of Ghent in Belgium. He is also a staunch Pan-Africanist and has delivered several powerful speeches alluding to or about African solutions to African problems.
He is aDoctor of Letters Honoris causa from the University of Cape coast, the founding Dean of Kabarak University faculty of Law and an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and Tanzania.
Click to watch the Video-Tragedy of Africa by PLO Lumumba
He has written more than 30 books including Criminal Procedure in Kenya, Kenya’s long search for a constitution.
PLO Lumumba has lectured at the United States International University, Nairobi, the University of Nairobi, Widener University (USA) Nairobi Summer Programs.
He was a Student Leader in his student days has also served in the Law Society of Kenya and has received recognition by the Law Society of Kenya and the International Commission of Jurists (Kenya Chapter) as a member in good standing.
Lumumba is a renowned legal practitioner recognized by peers as a leading litigator in Constitutional Law and Judicial Review Cases. Ha also has been recognized by the Kenya- USA Society as a Leader in the mould of Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr. With several thousand speeches on diverse subjects delivered in and outside Kenya, Lumumba is recognized as one of the leading public speakers in Kenya.
PLO Lumumba is also the founder of several organizations including the PLO Lumumba Foundation, a charitable organization that has been in operation since 1990. The Association of the Citizens Against Corruption (ACAC), Movement for Dialogue and Non- Violence (MODAN), The African Institute of Leaders and Leadership (AILL), a Trustee of Ufadhili Trust and a Director of Makini Schools.
He is an admirer of Patrice Lumumba and Thomas Sankara, the deceased revolutionary leaders of the D.R. Congo and the Burkina Faso, respectively.
Some of his quotes include:
“It is when the boat approaches the shore that it capsizes; we must therefore tread with preternatural circumspection” in these last phases of the Constitution Review Process.
–Statement made on the 21 st February, 2003 in an interview with the Media.
“The tree of change was watered by blood and sweat of men and women whose relentless crusade for constitutional change gave rise to formation of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission.”
–Statement made on 21 st February, 2003 while commenting on the review process delay.
We must remember that Constitution making is not instant coffee, it is a marathon race. Let us therefore not lose sight of the antelope for the squirrel.
–Remarks during an interview with KTN in 2002 in response to delays in the Review Process.
The Constitution making process was like a relay race. We ran our leg and in a manner of speaking were like Moses, we parted the Red Sea of political intrigues and internal sabotage, stood on the Mountains and beheld the Promised Land, but now we must hand over to Joshua who must take us to Canaan to confront the walls of Jericho.
-In an interview with the Standard Newspaper in January, 2006.
I refuse to accept that another Commission should be created to deliver a new Constitution. What you need is a lean, mean team to complete the process. We must not climb trees to look for fish.
–During an interview on the Review Process after the Referendum result in January, 2006
God has given us lemon, let us not ask for oranges. Let us make lemonade.
–Statement made to Delegates of the National Constitutional Conference on the 19 th day of August, 2003.
In our quest for a new Constitution we have swam Oceans how can we now drown in ponds.
-Statement made to delegates at the National Constitutional Conference on the 30 th day of May, 2003.
“Our country must morally re-arm. We cannot run a country where virtue is vice and vice is virtue. 13 We cannot live in a country where the looters of yester-years assume they have undergone a Pauline conversion because they are in opposition and oppose the Government of the day. 14 Some of our richest men and women are to be found in politics and their creed is, thou shall reap what thou hath not sown”.
“Behind most of our so called successful civil servants who have joined politics and business there is collapsed or collapsing public institution they once served.”
Catholic University of East Africa (CUEA) Conference by Accounting Students Association 15 th March, 2002 speaking on the subject of Professionals and corruption.
