The Acting Director and CEO NLAS Ms Fresiah Githumbi,
Representatives from the European Delegation, Manek Mita,
The NLAS Board Members present,
The Team Leader for the Technical Assistance to PLEAD 1 and PMFU staff,
NLAS staff present,
Members of the press,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good Morning.
I am delighted to be here today for this important breakfast meeting with the media, to meet, interact and share our vision with so many journalists who work tirelessly to inform Kenyans on what is happening and affecting their daily lives. Allow me to first thank you for taking time to honour our invite to attend this function which is part of our strategic plan to create media partnership and enhance the visibility of the National Legal Aid Service. As repeatedly stated, media is the mirror of the society and without you no one will know the good things we do to help thousands of vulnerable Kenyans in dire need of legal aid.
The National Legal Aid Service has been like a baby under the shadow of its parents which is the Office of the Attorney General. Under this shadow, we have provided legal aid services to thousands of disadvantaged Kenyans who would have otherwise had no opportunity to access justice. For us to come out of the shadow, we have developed a communication strategy through support from the European Union under the Programme for Legal Empowerment and Aid Delivery (PLEAD) to enhance our visibility and let the whole country know that there is a walking baby that has taken over provision of legal aid to the poor, vulnerable and marginalized members of our society.
Part of our strategy is to create media partnership, to let you know what we are doing so that you can amplify our voices. It is the reason why we are here today, to engage you and create a mutual partnership that is beneficial for the public. We are seeking this partnership with the knowledge that the process of offering free legal services needs collaboration and involvement of other partners, including you, the media.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the provision of Legal Aid is not a journey that started overnight. With the promulgation of the Constitution in 2010 Constitution, a national policy for legal reforms to enhance access to justice was born leading to the enactment of the Legal Aid Act on 26th April 2016 and subsequent creation the National Legal Aid Service (NLAS) as the sole government agency mandated to regulate the provision of legal aid services in the country.
To commemorate this special milestone, we have scheduled 26th April as a day to mark and celebrate the National Legal Aid Day. We have lined up a series of activities running throughout the week from 22nd April which will culminate in the celebrations on 26th April. The day will mark our inaugural National Legal Aid Day to be celebrated yearly to make people aware of the various provisions under the Legal Aid Act and the services we offer as earlier explained by the Ag. Director. We are thus calling and depending on you, the media, to be our eye and help publicize the day. We know that without you, the public will be in the dark about the week long mobile legal aid clinics activities we have scheduled from the 22nd April.
As earlier stated, provision of legal aid services needs partnership and collective responsibility to help thousands of Kenyans who cannot access justice because of many reasons including poverty, marginalization and high cost of hiring lawyers. That is why we partner with institutions including the judiciary, National Council on Administration of Justice, Law Society of Kenya, Paralegal Society of Kenya, Department of Children Services, Police and Prison Departments among others.
Most importantly, we received funding from the European Union to implement the Programme for Legal Empowerment and Aid Delivery (PLEAD) with an objective to develop an integrated approach to ensure there is equality of all before the law and improved access to and the expeditious delivery of justice particularly in high-risk counties that include 5 counties with the largest urban centers and 7 counties of the most marginalized areas of North Eastern Kenya. In those 12 target counties of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Uasin Gishu, Wajir, Mandera, Lamu, Tana River, Garissa, Marsabit and Isiolo; the funding from the European Union has enabled us to implement the Legal Aid Act by enhancing legal aid and assistance especially for the poor, marginalized and vulnerable persons through affordable, accessible, sustainable, credible, appropriate and accountable legal aid scheme.
For effective delivery of our services, NLAS has been engaging in various models including mobile legal aid clinics, training of paralegals, creation of community legal awareness, promotion of alternative justice systems, prison visits, teaching on self-representations and offering psychosocial support to those in need of legal aid. Our achievements can be seen through the increased number of people seeking free legal services in our offices, the high number of paralegals we have trained and are helping the marginalized communities in solving their legal issues, the cases we have taken up and referred to our partners and the increased legal awareness among communities.
To put this into context, the National Legal Aid Service uses various delivery models for legal aid where we have resolved more than 6,000 cases through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, trained more than 1,000 paralegals, trained more than 1,000 prisoners on self-representation and created legal awareness to more than 5,000 people within the 12 target counties.
Finally, the National Legal Aid Service has been operating as a department under the Office of the Attorney General. However, I would wish to let you know that we are in the process of decentralizing NLAS to make it the premier state agency in offering free legal services to those in need as envisioned in the Legal Aid Act. Our vision is to make the agency an autonomous government entity with its own structures so as to be able to effectively facilitate access to justice and legal aid for all citizens across the 47 counties We already have established offices in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret and with support from the European Union, we are in the process of opening more offices in Wajir, Mandera, Lamu, Tana River, Garissa, Marsabit and Isiolo. Our strategic plan is to have presence in all the 47 counties which will soon happen with the operationalization of the Legal Aid Fund. It is the reason we need your support and partnership to help the public know existence of these offices and the services we offer.
I thank you sincerely for your presence in this breakfast meeting.
May God bless you all as you depart to continue with the day’s other assignments