Dr. Kariuki Muigua stands out as one of the most distinguished environmental law scholars in Africa and one of the foremost experts in Environmental law, environmental justice, sustainable development and natural resources conflict management in the World today. As a specialist scholar in environmental law and natural resources conflicts management and disputes resolution, Dr. Kariuki Muigua is highly esteemed by many in environmental law and conflict management circles as a scholar, academic, author, dispute resolution expert, mentor and consultant. He is one of the few holders of specialist PhD in Environmental Dispute Resolution which will come handy as he set to play a great role in arbitration of natural resources and environmental disputes under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration as a member of the premier global dispute resolution body nominated by the Republic of Kenya.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration has developed Optional Rules for Arbitration of Disputes Relating to Natural Resources and/or the Environment that provide for the establishment of a specialized list of arbitrators who are considered to have expertise in the area of Environmental and Natural Resources Dispute Resolution, the specialist area of expertise of Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD having handled numerous international Environmental, Oil and gas/Extractives Disputes Arbitrations and Mediations around the World as a Member of ICC, CIArb and LCIA Panels. The Rules also provide for the establishment of a list of scientific and technical experts who may be appointed as expert witnesses pursuant to these Rules. The Members of the Court need not be listed in the Natural Resources and/or the Environment Disputes Resolution List as Parties to such disputes have discretion to also choose from arbitrators listed as Members of the PCA. In any case, parties to a dispute may, but are not obliged to, choose arbitrators, conciliators and expert witnesses from these Panels.

In the last decade, Dr. Muigua has earned the esteem and pride of place among leading scholars and experts for his efforts in research and scholarship in the areas of Environmental and Natural Resources Law, Environmental Law Governance, Human Rights and Constitutionalism, Environmental Justice and Conflict Resolution. He has written extensively and is at the forefront in exploring the nexus between environmental law and human rights, Land and natural resource rights, economic law and policy of governments with regard to environmental law and economics. His research in environmental law and conflict management including dozens of refereed journal articles have received hundreds of scholarly citations in the last five (5) years. He has supervised and examined several PhDs on environmental and natural resources law and conflict management as well as more than a dozen Masters of Law and Arts students specializing in environmental law and policy, dispute resolution and conflict management.

As an author in Environmental Law, Dr. Muigua has authored numerous books and leading textbooks in the area of environmental and natural resources law, justice and dispute resolution. In 2023, Dr. Kariuki Muigua has authored two published books on Sustainable Development and Environmental Management, namely, Realizing True Sustainable Development and Nurturing Our Environment for a Green Tomorrow. In addition, Dr. Muigua has contributed over dozen published book chapters in environmental law and dispute resolution in environmental governance.  He has also published dozen of articles in peer-reviewed local, regional and international journals on environmental law, environmental justice, natural resources management, sustainable development and environmental conflicts/disputes resolution. Dr. Muigua is the Founding and Managing Editor of the Journal of Conflict Management and Sustainable Development now in its eight volume after seven (8) years of publication.

Dr. Kariuki Muigua is also an Environmental Consultant, an Accomplished mediator and a Chartered arbitrator who has resolved numerous disputes touching on natural resources and extractives industry. He works with professionals in the environmental field especially in the areas of Environmental Resources and their management through Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), Mediation and Public Participation. He served as a Member of the National Environment Tribunal, the lead statutory adjudication body for environmental disputes in Kenya, from 2017 as Nominee of the Law Society of Kenya. Dr. Muigua has also collaborated extensively with various environmental advocacy groups in Kenya and regionally in the setting up of effective policy, legislative and institutional frameworks for the resolution of environmental conflicts. He is an ardent commentator and contributor to debates on sustainable development goals and has worked closely with many stakeholders in the areas of environmental access to Justice.

Dr. Muigua completed his PhD in Law Thesis a decade ago at the University of Nairobi researching on “Resolving Environmental Conflicts in Kenya through Mediation” focusing on the areas of Public Participation, Mediation and Environmental Democracy. His Masters Dissertation was titled “The Resolution of Natural Resource Conflicts in Kenya through Arbitration and Mediation.” He has received widespread training and experience in both international environmental law and alternative dispute resolution and conflict management over the years. Dr. Muigua teaches environmental law at the University of Nairobi Faculty School of Law, Centre for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP) and the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies in the University of Nairobi. He has also facilitated seminars on Environmental Conflicts and ADR, Environment and Conflict Prevention and Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Audit among others. He has written several consultancy reports on environment and natural resources management whose recommendations are in application in Kenya and beyond.

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.