Board of Directors - Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration

Board of Directors

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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.

John Ohaga

Board Member

John Ohaga is the Managing Partner as well as Co-Head of Dispute Resolution in the leading firm TripleOKlaw LLP, Advocates. He is an inspirational leader and mentor as well as widely recognized for his exemplary work and expertise in dispute resolution.

He is a Senior Counsel and Chartered Arbitrator and has 30 years’ post-qualification experience during which he has been involved in numerous complex litigation as well as high value domestic and international arbitrations. He has been recognized for his high quality work and expertise in dispute resolution by Legal 500, Chambers Global and Best Lawyers.

John was declared the 2010 winner of the International Law Office (ILO) Client Choice Awards for Kenya in the category of litigation (www.clientchoiceawards.com).He is an experienced litigator and has a particular passion for commercial litigation. He advises many leading companies listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange as well numerous private companies in addition to some of Kenya’s largest state corporations. Moreover, he also has significant experience in other aspects of civil litigation including employment and labour disputes, landlord and tenant, public procurement, intellectual property among many others. John is also an experienced arbitrator and is presently a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is a Trustee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Kenya Branch), is on the board of the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration, a member of the Mediation Accreditation Committee and Convener of the Law Society of Kenya’s Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution. He is also the Chairman of the Kenya Sports Disputes Tribunal.

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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.

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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.

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Peter Kihara Njuguna

Board Member

Peter Kihara Njuguna is an experienced Legal Researcher of more than 20 years standing having started off at the University of Nairobi’s Law Library where he worked for 13 years.

He has been involved in numerous legal assignments involving complex legal research and analysis on a wide range of issues for both governmental and public benefit organizations which have entailed preparation of legal opinions, advice, briefs, commentaries, and reports. Mr. Peter Kihara holds a post graduate Diploma in Law from Kenya School of Law and is admitted to practice as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. He is the Managing Partner at Kihara Njuguna & Co Advocates.

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Jimmy Mbabali Muyanja

Board Member

Jimmy Mbabali Muyanja has over 14 years of experience in commercial transactions, litigation and alternative dispute resolution. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, United Kingdom branch.

Jimmy Muyanja’s recommendations to amend the 1999 Arbitration and Conciliation Bill were adapted into the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, Cap.4 Laws of Uganda. He was part of the task force which designed and implemented the pioneer compulsory Court-connected mediation scheme for the Commercial Court Division of the High Court in Uganda in 2001 and also participated in training of mediators and arbitrators and delivered numerous papers on Alternative Dispute Resolution globally.

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Collins Namachanja

Board Member

Collins Namachanja is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and senior partner in the firm of Namachanja & Mbugua Advocates with close to 20 years post qualification experience in high value corporate and commercial transactions, commercial litigation and arbitration law and practice.

In arbitration, Mr.Namachanja has experience both as arbitrator and as a party representative in different areas of the law including commercial, construction, insurance,intellectual property and general land law. He also has experience in employment law, banking, insurance, intellectual property law and legislative drafting. He is currently involved in developing a legal framework for enacting of a Bill for Alternative Dispute Resolution practice in Kenya.

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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.

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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.

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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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