Activist Omtatah’s smooth sailing to Busia Senate seat

A staunch Catholic who always says his rosary every night before he goes to bed, activist Andrew Okiya Omtatah Okoit believes he is a man on a spiritual mission to assist poor Kenyans get justice.

“It is God who seems to determine my journey and all that I do. Many at time, I have found myself doing things that I never intended to do in the first place. Everything in my life seems planned and executed by God,” Omtatah who was on Tuesday elected the Busia Senator once told this writer.

As a young man, Omtatah who has earned himself the acclaim of being Kenya’s most litigious man, went to St Peter’s Seminary, in Mukumu and St Augustine Seminary, Mabanga, Bungoma, where he was a classmate to Bishop Mark Kadima of Bungoma diocese, all determined to become Catholic priests.

But as fate would have it, while studying philosophy and theology at St Augustine Seminary, Omtatah then a great football winger, suffered an injury during a match that affected his brain, leaving him epileptic, and consequently forcing him out of the studies for priesthood.

Years later, after having been cured by a traditional medicine man, Omtatah joined Kenya Polytechnic for a diploma course in Mechanical and Automobile engineering.

Joined seminary

From the seminary, to Kenya Polytechnic for a course in mechanical engineering, then to the corridors of justice and now to Kenya’s political landscape, is the story of Omtatah.

Omtatah, who always starts his day with an early morning mass and holy communion, is not new in the corridors of Justice where he is seen almost every day with documents he has filed or about to file touching on matters of public interest.

But on Tuesday, he added a new feather to his cap when he won the Busia Senate race under a nondescript party, the National Reconstruction Alliance (NRA).

He beat Doris Wako who was vying on a Labour Party of Kenya ticket, ODM’s Hillary Itela, UDA’s Amoo Oude, Wellington Emoru (independent), Braxwell Shiundu (Federal Party of Kenya),DAP-Kenya’s Kuchio Ongoma and Jubilee Party’s Isabella Masinde.

The man who is seen as a thorn in the flesh of the government has on several occassions been accused of filing several anti-government cases in court with an aim to stop the state from either implementing some projects or appointments.

His quest for a just society has seen him get into trouble with law enforcers, persevering beatings and lockups. At one point in 2012, he lost four teeth after an attack that was blamed on goons.

A number of his critics accuse him of being a hired gun and taking money to represent the interest of some powerful individuals, corporates and organisations, an accusation he laughs off when a question is put to him.

Omtatah however in a previous interview with People Daily disagreed saying before he files a case, he looks at the number of people who will benefit if he succeeds.

“If only one person will benefit, I don’t touch the matter, I send him or her to commercial lawyers,” he says.

Omtatah argued that he only wants the rule of law followed.

“I want this country to develop, you see all the cases we have filed are based on the law and where the court agrees it means the law was being broken. I want to see the rule of law entrenched,” he says.

And in a recent interview with this writer, Omtatah disclosed how he was driven to join politics in order to help up the mess that is within the Kenyan society.

Leadership failure

According to Omtatah, Kenya’s problems lie in failure by its leadership, and generally Kenyans, to observe the laws that they have put in place.

“If parliament did its works of oversight if the executive did its job, the judiciary played to its script as well as you and I did our role, we would have a very productive and progressive society. If you look at how the law is structured, there are so many checks and balances that if you obey it, nothing can go wrong. This is the sanity that I intend to restore,” he stated.

But why is Omtatah attractive to litigants?

According to some lawyers, Omtatah being unrepresented, even if he loses a case, he is never awarded costs unlike cases filed by law firms.

The lawyer notes that most times it’s not Omtatah the person suing, but most of those cases are government officers aggrieved and they give him the documents which an advocate cannot get.

“If an advocate files something from Statehouse it would be struck out because he will have to disclose how he acquired those government documents. But Omtatah gets it easy because the court will not demand strict representation of the rule of evidence on where he got the documents from,” noted one lawyer who did want to be named.

The lawyer noted that Omtatah is even given work by most law firms who will do the drafting and hand it over to him to prosecute.

“Omtatah is seen to represent the public and there is a general belief that he is not paid,” says the lawyer.

Lawyer Danstan Omari on his part noted that people like Omtatah are given more leeway to break the rule of procedure.

“If it is a law firm, one error in the matter is struck out. He is unrepresented like a woman suing for her child..the standard procedure is lower than the standard of an advocate,” he said.

According to Omari, Omtatah files matters of public interest which only LSK has that privilege.

“The executive went and took LSK to bed so they don’t file such matters anymore,” he notes.

Omtatah on his part claimed his passion is to see the rule of the law followed and he occasionally loses cases here and there.

“I have never been to a law school, it is just a passion but I consult on issues from many people and sometimes lawyers bring me work,” he says.

Omtatah said he gets an estimated 200 cases each month and only files about two or one case because he has limited resources.

“I do not have staff. I do my own things …Sometimes I get well-wishers, like there was a time the public fundraised for me,” he says.

Some of the notable cases he has successfully filed include the16 per cent fuel tax, which the government was forced to reduce to eight per cent.

He also secured orders that stopped MPs from earning Sh700 million in backdated house allowances and has also helped recover grabbed public lands.

Omtatah also challenged a Sh4.4 billion medical insurance cover for MPs arguing it would be wasteful given that the legislators would only benefit for seven months before their term expires.

He has, over the years, ensured that Kenya is a constitutional democracy where the Executive and Parliament have limited powers. He has shown the ‘Who is Who’ in this country and the two arms of government that the public good is contained in the law and that if you want to do anything, you must do it within the confines of the law.