The Commonwealth University, London, recently awarded Justice Dr Smokin Wanjala an Honorary Doctorate degree in recognition of his service to humanity.
An associate justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Wanjala was actively involved in the struggle for constitutional reform, during his time in civil society in the 1990s. Together with others including Prof. Kivutha Kibwana, and the late Prof. Kichamu Akivaga, he founded the Centre for Law and Research International (CLARION) that accelerated civic education activities in the country at the height of the Kanu regime’s ruthless crackdown on dissent.
Justice Wanjala holds a Bachelor of Law from the University of Nairobi, a Master of Laws from Columbia University, New York and a PhD from the University of Ghent, Belgium. He has many publications to his credit in the fields of Law, Human Rights and Governance. He has participated in major research projects locally and internationally.
Before his appointment to the Supreme Court in 2012, Dr Wanjala held several high-profile stints at KACC and NEMA, is credited with overseeing the compilation and writing of what has come to be known as the Ndung’u Land Report.
It is however in teaching and mentoring some of the country’s top legal minds that Dr Wanjala derives his greatest pride, teaching at UoN from 1986 – 2004. (