Board of Directors - Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration

Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Lawrence Muiruri Ngugi

Registrar/CEO

Lawrence Muiruri Ngugi is the Registrar/Board Secretary, Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration. As CEO he leads the Secretariat of the Centre.

He is also an arbitrator and accredited mediator, member of the International Council of Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), member of Kenya’s representatives to the UNCITRAL Working Group II Arbitration & Conciliation (involved in discussions which culminated in the Convention on Transparency in Investor-State Arbitration) and UNCITRAL Working Group III Online Dispute Resolution amongst other appointments.

Board of Directors

Jacqueline Oyuyo Githinji

Board Member

Jacqueline Oyuyo Githinji is the Managing Partner at Umsizi LLP, and has gained considerable experience in a broad range of commercial and family matters in her close to 20 years of practice. Kenya’s third female Chartered Arbitrator, she is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Certified and Court-Accredited Mediator, and holds an MBA in Global Technology Management. Jackie serves as Non-Executive Director on various Boards, notably the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration (NCIA).

Having sat as a neutral third party in a variety of both commercial and family disputes, she has observed a general willingness in parties to bring their disputes to a logical end, even when their underlying transactions are no longer tenable: no one wants to be in a perpetual state of flux. It is therefore her firm belief that Arbitration and Mediation offer a lifeline to disputing parties by introducing time and cost efficiencies and offering disputing parties an opportunity to preserve their relationships beyond their disputes. Each engagement as an Arbitrator or Mediator gives her an opportunity to consider the dispute from each party’s perspective, and to commit her time, skills, knowledge, and experience to delivering or facilitating results that all parties can, ultimately, live with.

Board of Directors

Waigi Kamau

Board Member

Waigi Kamau, An Advocate of the High Court of Kenya with over 15 years post admission experience is a Deputy Chief State Counsel at the Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice currently heading the Commercial & Arbitration Division, Civil Litigation Department.

He was previously the Regional Head of the Malindi County State Law Office (in charge of Kilifi, Tana River and Lamu County as well as the Head of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Section within the Civil Litigation Department representing the Government of Kenya in high profile and complex litigation. In the course of service he has been deployed as the Deputy Director Host Country and Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of drafting host country agreements from 2008 to 2010.

Board of Directors

Hon. Judith Omange

Board Member

Hon. Judith Omange is a law graduate from the University of Nairobi with training on Judicial Administration, Case Management, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Juvenile Delinquent Treatment Course in UNAFEI, Japan. Prior to her appointment as Registrar;

Judith served as a Deputy Registrar in the Family Division and magistrate in the Nairobi Children’s Court where she oversaw the implementation of the Children Act, then a new legislation at the court. As the Registrar of the High Court, Judith is responsible for the day to day administration of 39 High Court stations. Her vision for the High Court is that it will be a court that will meet the aspirations of the Kenyan people by providing independent, quality and timely justice.

Board of Directors

Ms. Pauline Mcharo

Board Member

Ms. Pauline Mcharo is Deputy Chief State Counsel, International Law Division , at the Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice. Her current assignments include representing Government in international investment and commercial disputes and assisting in resolution of Territorial and Maritime Delimitation disputes.

Board of Directors

James Muruthi Kihara

Board Member

James Muruthi Kihara is the Managing Partner of Kihara & Wyne Advocates. He has represented corporate clients in complex litigation and arbitrations. He has in the past worked with the then Ministry Justice & Constitutional Affairs and as a Corporation Secretary in several state agencies.

Mr. Kihara has in the past served as Chairperson of the Petition Committee, a statutory tribunal and Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators - Kenya Branch. He has sat on several boards both public and private. He regularly writes and speaks at conferences on Arbitration, Law, ADR and Public Private Partnerships. Kihara has also published widely on topics covering the aforesaid areas and has taught Criminal Procedure and Agricultural Law & Policy at the University of Nairobi’s School of Law and the Faculty of Agriculture respectively. Kihara has received specialized training on Judgement Writing, Legislative Drafting, Infrastructure Contract Management and Public Private Partnerships from the International Law Institute, Harvard Kennedy School and Institute of Public Private Partnerships (IP3). He has also undertaken the Investment Appraisal and Risk Analysis Programme from Queens University, Kingston. He holds a Master’s Degree in Law and has undergraduate degrees in Commerce and Law. Kihara is a Chartered Arbitrator.

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