- Brian Mwenda has been masquerading as an advocate of the high court, representing high-profile clients such as Maina Njenga.
- He was recently exposed as a fraud.
- Several influential Kenyans, including Mike Sonko, Nelson Havi, and Francis Atwoli described him as a genius and offered to support him.
Brian Mwenda Njagi has been the subject of discussion for the better part of last week. He is said to have masqueraded as an advocate of the High Court of Kenya, representing high-profile clients and winning several cases.
According to Business Daily, Mr. Mwenda was present when ex-Mungiki leader Maina Njenga was presented in a Makadara Law court, even participating in a televised press conference after the event.
Further, recent photos circulating on social media showed him welcoming a new judge at Thika Law Courts alongside other members of the bar.
Other photos show him in the company of high-ranking LSK officials, including LSK chair Francis Theuri.
Considering that many Kenyan lawyers earn between Ksh 37,621 and Ksh 161, 006 per month, it is probable that Mwenda’s career was lucrative, especially considering the kinds of high-profile clients he is said to have represented.
It was not until a few days ago that his goose was cooked when he was busted as having impersonated someone else to practice as an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
Education
According to a video circulating on social media platform, a man identifying as his father insists that Brian is a lawyer. The father said that his son was student at Kiriani Boys School before joining a college in Nairobi where he pursued a diploma in criminology.
The father went on to state that he joined Strathmore in 2017 and graduated in 2020. In 2021, he joined the Kenya School of Law (KSL) and was admitted to the bar in December 2022.
He joined his relative law firm.
How he became a lawyer
Apparently, Brian Mwenda Njagi became a lawyer by impersonating the identity of an advocate who had a similar name to his — Brian Mwenda Ntwiga.
Ntwiga, who according to some online sources is an alumnus of Chuka University, had been working at the Attorney General’s office. This did not require a practicing certificate, and so he had never applied for one.
Meanwhile, Mwenda used a fraudulent tactic called Business Email Compromise to access his LSK portal.
Once he identified Ntwiga’s advocate status as inactive, he decided to activate it using his credentials.
He therefore contacted the LSK secretariat from his end and requested to change the email, saying it was incorrect.
Once he accessed the portal, he changed the profile photo, workplace and other details, and even paid for a practicing certificate.
However, the application could not be completed as he was required to provide other details.
His act would never have been discovered were it not for Ntwiga, who tried to log into his LSK portal to apply for a practicing certificate.
Encountering difficulties accessing the portal, he alerted the ICT department, who then discovered that the email on his portal was different from the one he had provided when joining the bar in August last year.
The LSK convened an emergency meeting to discuss the matter and it emerged that Mwenda had stolen Mr. Ntwiga’s identity.
Support
Despite his ‘crime’ as a fraudulent lawyer, several people have sided with Brian Mwenda.
They include former LSK president Nelson Havi, who said that Mwenda could have practiced law successfully without holding himself out as an advocate, citing the example of Busia senator Okiah Omtata.
Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko offered to host Mwenda at his Mombasa residence and said he would bail him out. He also offered to sponsor him for law school, and upon qualification, hire him as his future lawyer.
COTU chair Francis Atwoli described Mwenda as a young and brilliant Kenyan and went on to opine that his case was not unique and that COTU would support him to ensure that his dreams are actualized.
Kenyans on social media were divided, with some hailing Mwenda as a legal genius for winning cases in various courts without a law degree while others called upon security agents to prosecute him, saying his act was a violation of the integrity that should be upheld within the legal profession.
Meanwhile, the LSK president invited the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to apprehend Mr. Mwenda.
