Law Society of Kenya sues top UK human rights firm

Leigh Day is facing allegations of 'fraudulently' inflating a compensation bill in the run-up to last year's agreement by the British Foreign Office to pay £19.9 m in a settlement compensation over the Mau Mau uprising.

Kenya PHOTOCREO Michal Bednarek

Leigh Day had sued the UK government on behalf of 5,228 former insurgents who rebelled against British rule in the 1950s and claimed that they had been tortured by British soldiers. The  law firm received £6.6m in fees. The Law Society of Kenya, understood to be acting for people who received no compensation despite claiming to be victims, will be making its case in a hearing in November. The chief executive, Apollo Mboya, of the Law Society said: ‘We need to know who Leigh Day’s clients were and who the compensation was paid to, because people are complaining to us that they have not received the compensation they expected.’

Nonsense

Dan Leader, who led the Leigh Day team, said: ‘This is nonsense from start to finish. There is not a shred of truth to it. Any notion that British taxpayers’ money did not go to the right place is utterly wrong. Not one penny of the damages went to pay our costs. They were paid for by the defendant [the British Government]. The victims we represented did not want their names disclosed for fear of being harassed by rival Mau Mau groups.’ Source: The Telegraph

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