Justice Mohammed Ibrahim of the Supreme Court of Kenya has died at the age of 69. He passed away on Wednesday, December 17, at Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi. Justice Ibrahim was a jurist of long-standing repute and a towering figure in Kenya’s legal and constitutional history. Admitted to the Bar in January 1983, he became the first Kenyan of Somali descent to be enrolled as an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. He was a prominent figure in Kenya’s “Second Liberation” pro-democracy struggle, where he distinguished himself through courageous advocacy for human rights and the rule of law.…
Author: David Wanjala
In a landmark decision that could have far-reaching implications across the public sector, the Employment and Labour Relations Court has ruled that legal officers employed by state corporations are entitled to a non-practice allowance. The judgment, delivered on October 28, 2025, by Justice Hellen Wasilwa in Cliff Bwogo Manoti v Kenya Revenue Authority; Law Society of Kenya & another (Interested Parties) (ELRC Cause E370 of 2021), affirms that public sector legal officers must be compensated for the statutory restriction that bars them from engaging in private practice. The case arose from a claim by Cliff Bwogo Manoti, a legal officer…
The upcoming Magarini Constituency by-election, scheduled for November 27, 2025, is not just another routine exercise in democratic renewal. It is, in fact, a stark reminder of the inefficiencies and systemic delays embedded within Kenya’s electoral dispute resolution framework. Unlike other by-elections arising from deaths or appointment to government of sitting MPs, Magarini’s was occasioned by the nullification of a contested election result—nearly two years after the original vote. In August 2022, Harrison Garama Kombe of ODM was declared the winner by a razor-thin margin of 21 votes over UDA’s Stanley Kenga. Alleging electoral malpractices including ballot stuffing and vote…
Former Bungoma County Governor Wycliffe Wafula Wangamati has pleaded not guilty to multiple corruption-related charges involving Sh31,780,000 in alleged kickbacks from construction companies awarded tenders during his tenure. Appearing before Principal Magistrate Hon. Zipporah Gichana at the Anti-Corruption Court in Milimani, Wangamati was charged with four counts of conflict of interest. He is accused of receiving millions of shillings through a company owned by his siblings, stemming from payments made by the Bungoma County Government to various contractors. In Count 8, the court heard that between May 2020 and June 2021, Wangamati received Sh10.5 million from Nabwala Construction Limited, a…
Kenya’s legal fraternity paid their last respects to the late Senior Counsel (SC) Pheroze Nowrojee, one of the country’s most distinguished legal minds in a memorial held on Thursday at the National Museum of Kenya. SC Nowrojee, a constitutional scholar, teacher, human rights advocate, political strategist, writer and poet, and a public intellectual died of pneumonia in April at the age of 84 while visiting his children in the US. His family recently brought back his cremated remains and on Wednesday July 9th, the Judiciary held a special court session to honour his legacy. The Special File Closing proceedings conducted…
Could it be that when Maribe went to great lengths to conceal the bullet hole in her bedroom wall and lie to the police about the gunshot incident, she was not aware that Jowie had murdered Monicah Kimani? Did she not intend to help her boyfriend avoid arrest and trial?
SC Pheroze Nowrojee, who died on Saturday, was a teacher, mentor, human and constitutional rights lawyer, poet, and writer.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission CEO, Mr. Twalib Mbarak has called on the Kenyan youth to take a keen interest and play an active role in leadership and governance matters in the society. Mr. Mbarak provided numerous pathways through which the young people could access and engage in public affairs, including through advocacy, research and innovation, as integrity champions, and by actively participating in electoral processes. He was addressing Pwani University students in Kilifi in a public lecture organized in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The lecture, themed “Youth and Governance in Kenya: Does…
By David Wanjala Principal Secretary, State Department of Forestry, Mr. Gitonga Mugambi was recently quoted in one of the local dailies hailing the Government’s move to recover forest land worth Sh100 million in Ngong, Kajiado County. The said land is a 3.5acre piece that had been carved out of Kibiku Forest, next to the Kenya Institute of Highways and Building Technology by a developer for private use. Already, the grabber was in the process of developing the land when the Government, according to the PS, moved to reclaim it. One may think, from the PS’s statement, that Government, on its…
It has been smooth sailing for President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Government in the courts of law ever since the Apex Court decided the Presidential Election Petition of 2022 in their favour and ushered them into power. The cosy relationship between the Executive and the Judiciary that ensued after Kenya Kwanza formed government had legal pundits wondering if the Judiciary would guard our progressive Constitution against Executive excesses of the new political dispensation. First, President Ruto appointed into office in September, hardly a month after assuming office, the six judges his predecessor had rejected in June 2021. President Uhuru Kenyatta’s…
