Africa’s Leading Arbitrator and Kenya’s Top Dispute Resolution Guru Dr. Kariuki Muigua was recently nominated by the Government of the Republic of Kenya as one of its four representative members to the prestigious Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) based at The Hague. This latest accolade has been hailed by peers and legal industry analysts as yet another confirmation that Dr. Muigua has entered and entrenched himself in the exclusive league of international ADR practitioners. Dr. Muigua was not only Africa’s Trustee (2019 to 2022) to the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIARB) but was also the first person to win the two highest Arbitration Awards in Africa in the same year. To be sure, in March 2022, Dr. Kariuki Muigua won the African Arbitrator of the Year 2022 and followed it with the African Arbitration Association (AfAA) ADR Practitioner of the Year 2022 in November 2022.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is the world’s premier Arbitration Institution which enjoys the status of an Intergovernmental Organization. The PCA provides administrative support in international arbitrations involving various combinations of states, state entities, international organizations and private parties. However, its functions are not limited to arbitration and include providing support in other forms of peaceful resolution of international disputes, including mediation, conciliation, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). In turn, the members of the Court are potential arbitrators appointed by Contracting Parties. The other Kenyan members of PCA are Prof. Githu Muigai SC (Senior Counsel and Former Attorney General of Kenya now serving his Second Term at PCA), Dr. Kenneth Wyne Mutuma and Dr. Wilfred Mutubwa. Past Kenyan Members of PCA include Former Attorney General of Kenya and Busia Senator Hon Amos Wako SC, Former Chief Justice of Kenya Hon Dr. Willy Mutunga and First African Woman Member of International Law Commission since inception in 1947 Prof. Phoebe Okowa.

In view of this, there is no doubt the nomination of Dr. Kariuki by the Republic of Kenya as a Contracting Party state is proof that he meets the criteria for nominees which includes “known competency in questions of international law, of the highest moral reputation and disposed to accept the duties of arbitrators” as “Members of the Court.” Membership of PCA is so highly that in addition to forming a panel of potential arbitrators, the Members of the Court from each Contracting Party constitute a “national group,” which is entitled to nominate candidates for the election to the International Court of Justice in accordance with article 4(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. In addition, the Members of the Court (along with the judges of the ICJ) are among a handful of groups entitled to nominate candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The PCA itself offers a detailed profile of Dr. Kariuki Muigua as a justification of why he is one of the only four Kenyans who have been entrusted with this high office for a renewable term of six years. According to the PCA Website, “Dr. KARIUKI MUIGUA, PhD, C.Arb. Dr. Kariuki Muigua is a distinguished law scholar, Environmental Consultant, an accomplished mediator and a Chartered Arbitrator. He is a holder of a Ph. D in law from the University of Nairobi and with widespread training and experience in both international and national commercial arbitration and mediation. He served as the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) Regional Trustee for Africa from 2019 to 2022.” The Permanent Court of Arbitration adds that Dr. Kariuki Muigua “is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya of over 33 years standing and practicing at Kariuki Muigua & Co. Advocates. He has on various occasions been appointed by leading arbitral institutions including the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb-Kenya), the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration (NCIA), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) among other institutions, as both as a sole arbitrator and a member of arbitral tribunals in arbitrations involving commercial disputes.

The Court goes on to list the prestigious awards Dr. Kariuki Muigua has garnered over the years. It notes that: “He became the first winner of the Inaugural CIArb (Kenya Branch) ADR Lifetime Achievement Award 2021. He was also the winner of the ADR Practitioner of the Year Award 2021 given by the Nairobi LSK and the ADR Publisher of the Year 2021 awarded by CIArb Kenya. He was the winner of the African Arbitrator of the Year 2022 award at the 3rd African Arbitration Awards held at Kigali Rwanda beating other competitors from Egypt, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Kenya. The African Arbitrator of the Year award is the highest and most prestigious ADR and Arbitration Award in Africa.” As already noted, Dr. Kariuki Muigua was also the winner of the African Arbitration Association (AfAA) ADR Practitioner of the Year 2022 in November 2022.

The Hague court also acknowledges that its Member Dr. Kariuki Muigua is prolific and published author and that “his book, Settling Disputes through Arbitration in Kenya, 4th Edition; Glenwood publishers 2022, was awarded the Publication of the Year Award 2022…. He is the author of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Access to Justice in Kenya, (Glenwood Publishers, Nairobi, 2015) and Resolving Conflicts through Mediation in Kenya, (Glenwood Publishers, Nairobi, 2013) among other books.” Indeed, more than any other African Intellectual and Practitioner, Dr. Kariuki Muigua stands out as the leading author, editor and publisher in Environmental Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution with more than a dozen books and over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters to his name in those areas. For his status as a leading expert and practitioner in Environmental Law in Kenya he was nominated by his peers and colleagues in Law Society of Kenya to represent them as a member of the National Environment Tribunal (NET) of Kenya, recently awarded the best performing Tribunal in Kenya for handling the most cases.

In 2023, Chambers and Partners Global Guide, for the third year in a row, ranked Dr. Kariuki Muigua Ph.D in Band 1 of Dispute Resolution (Arbitrators), among the Top 6 Arbitrators in Kenya for his “astute understanding of arbitration,” being “respected for his handling of litigation,” and having “a practice that touches upon commercial, constitutional and environmental law.” In 2022, Chambers and Partners Partners had also ranked Dr. Muigua in Band 1 noting that “He has been involved in several ground-breaking arbitrations,” “has an astute understanding of arbitration” and “is respected for litigation.”

The Legal 500 EMEA 2023 Edition has recognized Bowmans Partner Dominic Indokhomi as one of the Top Ten (10) Leading Individuals in Kenya in Banking, Finance and Capital Markets. According to the world’s leading legal directory, Dominic is “noted for his vast experience in banking and finance and fintech work.” Bowmans is listed in Tier 1 in Banking, Finance and Capital Markets with its Practice Head Cornelius Kigera and Managing Partner Paras Shah also making it to the coveted Leading Individuals in Banking, Finance and Capital Markets list alongside Dominic.

Dominic is a Partner in Bowmans Nairobi office and a member of the firm’s General Finance and Real Estate practice. He has vast experience in banking and finance (including documentation of financial transactions, securities and debt restructuring), financial services and regulatory services (including insurance, capital markets, and retirement benefits), fintech (including payment services, digital lending, digital banking, insurtech and block chain), data protection regulations, and real estate transactions.

He has advised the Government of Kenya, the East African Community and several local and international banks and financial institutions, lenders, corporates, individual clients and other entities seeking to provide or raise or structure various forms of finance. He also regularly advises banks and financial institutions, insurance companies and intermediaries, capital markets intermediaries, payment service providers on set up and regulatory advice.

Dominic is acknowledged as one of the leading and knowledgeable lawyers on Fintech Law in Kenya and East Africa. He advised Commercial Bank of Africa (now NCBA) in relation to regulatory approval of the Fuliza product, the innovative mass lending product that allows all mobile money (M-Pesa) customers to overdraw on their e-wallets (M-Pesa wallet) to pay for goods or services in the event of insufficient funds.

Some of the clients that Dominic has advised include international and multilateral financial institutions (such as IFC, AfDB, DFC, TDB, Standard Chartered and Citibank), local banks and financial institutions (such as Stanbic Bank Kenya Limited, Equity Bank Kenya Limited, KCB Bank Kenya Limited, Absa Bank Kenya Limited), leading Fintech companies (such as Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, Stripe and Coinbase), and leading corporates (such as Britam Holdings Plc, Safaricom Plc and East African Breweries Limited).

In addition to the recognition by the Legal 500, Dominic has been ranked as Up and Coming Lawyer in the Banking and Finance (Kenya) category in 2022-2023 as well as in Band 3 for FinTech Legal (Kenya), in by Chambers and Partners Global Guide. The IFLR1000’s Financial and Corporate Guide rated Dominic as a Highly Regarded Lawyer for his work in Banking and finance in Kenya in its 2022 publication.

Chambers and Partners Global Guide 2023 has, for the third year in a row, ranked Dr. Kariuki Muigua Ph.D in Band 1 of Dispute Resolution (Arbitrators), the ranking which recognizes the Top 6 Arbitrators in Kenya for his “astute understanding of arbitration,” being “respected for his handling of litigation,” and having “a practice that touches upon commercial, constitutional and environmental law.” Last year, Chambers and Partners Partners had also ranked Dr. Muigua in Band 1 noting that “He has been involved in several ground-breaking arbitrations,” “has an astute understanding of arbitration” and “is respected for litigation.”

These high accolade is the start of yet another year of escalating peer and professional rec0nignition for Dr. Kariuki Muigua as a leader in ADR and Arbitration whose fame as top arbitrators has gone from national, to continental and is now at global league. In 2021, Dr. Muigua was the Inaugural Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) Kenya Branch ADR Lifetime Achievement Award Winner 2021 and Law Society of Kenya Nairobi Legal Awards ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021.

In 2022, Dr. Kariuki Muigua won the coveted Africa Arbitration Awards Africa Arbitrator of the Year 2022 which is hosted by the East Africa International Arbitration Conference. In addition, Dr. Kariuki Muigua was also the prestigious African Arbitration Association ADR Practitioner of the Year 2022. These two continental arbitration awards combined with stature of Dr. Kariuki Muigua as the Africa CIArb Trustee since 2019 cemented his position as the leading arbitrator in the African continent.

Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD straddles the narrow ADR world like a giant and his epic journey to claim the top prize in ADR in the continent as well as the dominance of the rankings of Top Arbitrators listings is ample proof. Dr. Muigua became a Member of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIarb) in 2002 and 10 years later he was elected as the Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Kenya Branch) serving up to 2015. In 2019, Dr Muigua was elected (unopposed) to the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) Board of Trustees as the Regional Trustee for Africa.

There is no other practitioner before Dr. Kariuki Muigua who had achieved the milestone of winning the African Arbitrator of the Year and the AfAA Africa’s ADR Practitioner of the Year in the same year before Dr. Kariuki Muigua. This not only affirms him as the top in the ADR game, but it ushers a new era as he enters into the realm of international ADR practitioners from Africa. With no more prizes and awards for Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD to win in Africa having scooped all, how the indefatigable ADR Scholar will shift his attention to dominating the international sphere will be interesting to watch.

Dr. Kariuki Muigua’s journey to the top of ADR and Arbitration in the Africa continent is testament that discipline and hard work pays. It has has seen him painstakingly and consistently research, teach, write, edit, publish, train, mentor and practice arbitration, alternative dispute resolution (ADR), conflict management and dispute resolution for the last 30 years with excellence as a leading lawyer, authoritative scholar and ADR expert.

Today, Dr. Kariuki Muigua, Phd, C.Arb is a Chartered Arbitrator and the African Trustee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the African Arbitrator of the Year 2022. He is an advocate of 33 years standing and the Managing Partner of Kariuki Muigua & Co. Advocates. He is also the author of the Leading Textbooks on ADR, Mediation and Arbitration including the seminal Settling Disputes Through Arbitration in Kenya, now in 4^th Edition.

Dr. Kariuki Muigua is also both the founder, publisher and editor of Africa’s leading Conflict Management Journal as well as one of the PhD Academics who majored in resolution of Natural Resources and Environmental Conflicts using mediation. Dr. Kariuki Muigua is also a leading author in the area of conflict management and has published several books on the topic including Resolving Conflicts through Mediation and Natural Resources and Environmental Justice in Kenya. It is these exploits that have left many of his admirers convinced that his next stop would be Professorship and admission to the Rank of Senior Counsel.

As an ADR Practitioner, Dr. Muigua was declared the first ever winner of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Kenya Branch) ADR Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honour given by the Institute to one member every year for his immense contribution to the growth of practice, research and scholarship of ADR in Kenya and across Africa. The award came barely a week after Dr. Muigua had won the coveted Law Society of Kenya ADR Practitioner of the Year Award at the 4th Edition of the Nairobi Legal Awards. LSK recognized Dr. Muigua for his outstanding practice in ADR and especially arbitration and his role as mentor to many lawyers venturing into the area. Dr. Kariuki Muigua was also awarded the ADR Publisher of the Year for his scholarship, authorship and editorship of leading research and publications on ADR in Africa including the Journal of Conflict Management and Sustainable Development and Alternative Dispute Resolution, the Official Journal of the CIArb (Kenya).

The tripartite awards have been hailed by many of Dr. Kariuki Muigua’s peers in the ADR and Arbitration fraternity as a fitting tributes to his made immense contribution to mainstreaming of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and especially arbitration as way of resolving disputes in Kenya, East Africa and across Africa in the last two (2) decades. Indeed, starting in 2002 when Dr. Muigua took the Special Member Course leading to membership to the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb), Dr. Muigua one of the staunchest advocates of ADR in Africa in addition to becoming the foremost intellectual voice shaping ADR practitioners and scholars of the future. The contribution of Dr. Kariuki Muigua to the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) sector has taken many shapes and forms including as a practitioner, leader, policy maker, scholar, author, trainer, mentor and trailblazer among others.

Dr. Muigua is a leading Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practitioner in Kenya, Africa and the world at large who has been recognized nationally and globally by peers. The world leading peer-reviewed lawyers’ directory, Chambers and Partners, rates Dr. Kariuki Muigua as one of the best alternative dispute resolution experts in the country. It describes as ‘a highly respected arbitrator and mediator with a sterling background in commercial and constitutional cases, as well as matters relating to the environment and natural resources.’ The most recent ranking adds: “Kariuki Muigua of Kariuki Muigua & Co is held in high regard by market commentators for his role in the Kenyan arbitration sphere. He possesses stellar experience in commercial and constitutional disputes, as well as environmental matters and those relating to the extractive industries. In addition to being “a big noise in the arbitration association,” he is widely recognized for his academic work.”

Dr. Muigua has served in many panels as an arbitrator appointed by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)-Kenya, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration (NCIA), the London Court Of International Arbitration (LCIA) and the International Court of Arbitration under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on several occasions as a sole arbitrator and a member of arbitral tribunals in arbitrations involving commercial disputes. He has vast experience and expertise in adjudication and has sat as both as a panel member and a chairperson in various adjudication Boards both locally and internationally. He is also an accomplished mediator and has successfully presided over numerous matters both as a private mediator and a court appointed mediator under the Court-Annexed Mediation program in Kenya.

Dr Muigua was elected (unopposed) to the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) Board of Trustees as the Regional Trustee for Africa, for the term beginning 1 January 2019. Previously, he served as the Branch Chairman of CIArb-Kenya from 2012 to 2015. He also served CIArb as Member and past Chairperson of the Sub-committee on Information Technology (IT), CIArb and as Member of the Legal Committee Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) – Kenya chapter. He is a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)-Kenya chapter. He is also a member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and Kenya Branch. He is also a Member of Kigali International Arbitration Centre (KIAC) and Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration (NCIA). For his contributions, he was awarded Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Chairman’s Medal with a citation for exemplary service in December, 2015.

In policy-making, Dr. Kariuki Muigua is currently a member of the National Steering Committee for Formulation of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Policy representing the Academia since 2020. The team is providing guidance and overseeing the process for formulation of a national policy and institutional framework on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Kenya. He has also served as Member of the Meditation Accreditation Committee Panel of Mediators Accredited for Commercial Mediation under the Judiciary of Kenya. Recently, he led negotiations that achieved partnership with Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK on GPR 625 (International Commercial Arbitration) for University of Nairobi LLM students to achieve membership status without further tests, 2020 to 2023.

On ADR Scholarship, Dr. Muigua is the author of the leading textbook on Arbitration in Kenya, namely, Settling Disputes through Arbitration in Kenya, now in its 4th Edition (2022) and available for free download, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Access to Justice in Kenya (2015) and Resolving Conflicts through Mediation in Kenya (2013). He has been cited hundreds of times as an ADR Scholar, contributed at least 3 chapters of published books, authored dozens of peer-reviewed articles in the areas of arbitration and alternative dispute resolution and presented over two dozen papers on ADR in diverse fora. Dr. Muigua has also facilitated numerous trainings, workshops and conferences on ADR. He has supervised and supervised at least two (2) completed PhD thesis on ADR, Dozens of Masters Thesis and is supervising three (3) PhDs in the area as a lecturer and mentor in ADR practice and scholarship. Dr. Muigua is a lecturer in International Commercial Arbitration at the University of Nairobi and tutor, trainer and assessor at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Kenya Branch).

Dr. Kariuki Muigua is a Chartered Arbitrator (since January 2015) and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (since October 2010) and Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (since 2002). He holds a Diploma in Arbitration (2012) and became Accredited as a Mediator by the Mediation Training Institute in 2015. He is also a renowned consultant on ADR Law and Practice and has authored reports whose recommendations had far reaching impact on the sector. As a professional who strives to attain excellence in the legal and ADR arenas, Dr. Muigua has gone out of his way to put ADR in the frontline as one of the leading modes of dispute resolution in Kenya, Africa and at global stage. Dr. Muigua is a holder of a Ph. D in law from the University of Nairobi and has widespread training and experience in both international and national commercial arbitration and mediation. Previously, he served as the chairperson, Department of Private Law of the University of Nairobi School of Law 2020-2021.