Kenyan judge named Jurist of the Year

Justice Mumbi Ngugi is set to be honored with the Global Jurist of the Year Award from the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Centre for International Human Rights (CIHR) – By Gerald Gekara .

Justice Ngugi, who serves in the Anti-Corruption & Economic Crimes Division of the High Court will receive the award during a webinar today, Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 9pm.

The judge is a long-time advocate for human rights in Kenya.

‘She has been involved in advocacy work for the rights of women and children, as well as the housing rights of the urban poor.’

But perhaps she is most widely known in Kenya for giving people with albinism a strong voice, being a co-founder of the Albinism Foundation of East Africa, set up in 2008.

Referring to the discrimination against people with albinism, including the fact that many are killed every year for ritual purposes, she commented, ‘It is not fair for people with this condition to die unemployed, uneducated, unaccepted, and maimed or killed for witchcraft rituals.’

In her career, she holds; the 2013 International Commission of Jurists-Kenya Jurist of the Year Award, the Brand Kenya Ambassador Award in 2013, the Law Society of Kenya Distinguished Service Award 2017, the C.B. Madan Award 2018 and the Transparency International Judicial Integrity Award 2019.

Justice Ngugi is also a member of the Africa Regional Judges Forum (ARJF) on HIV-AIDS and chairs the ARJF Steering Committee on Judicial Education.