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Grace Mumbi Ngugi

Grace Mūmbi Ngūgì (MBS) is a Kenyan lawyer and a Judge of the High Court of Kenya. She is serving in the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division of the Court.

She is a long-term advocate of 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. She has also been a prominent activist for the rights of persons with the condition in Kenya, and co-founded the Albinism Foundation for East Africa.

Justice Ngūgì holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree (LLB) from the University of Nairobi and a Master of Laws (LLM) in Commercial and Corporate Law from the London School of Economics, University of London.

Early life and education

Grace Mūmbi Ngūgì (MBS) was born in Banana Hill, Kiambu County. She was born with albinism to a family of 11 siblings. Ngūgì attended Thìndìgua Primary School, which she passed with 35 out of 36 points in her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams. She was admitted to Ngandu Girls High School in Nyeri. She proceeded to the University of Nairobi to pursue a Bachelor of Laws Degree. Thereafter attended the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London where she earned a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree. She was awarded the Overseas Development Administration Shared Scholarship (ODASS). She also holds a diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law. She is the patron of the Cambridge University Commonwealth Law Journal.

Career

Pre-Judiciary

Grace was admitted to the Kenyan Bar in 1988. Early Roles (1989–1993). Served as State Counsel at the AG’s Chambers (1989) and as Legal Counsel/Company Secretary at Pioneer General Assurance. She has served in various capacities in the public and private sectors. Her private practice includes serving as a partner at Njogu and Ngugi Advocates for 18 years (1993–2011).

Consultancy and Civil Society Contributions

  • Government Consultancy. In 2010, she provided her legal expertise to the public sector as a Consultant for the Ministry of Transport, advising on complex legal issues within the ministry.
  • Human Rights Research. Between 2006 and 2011, she served as the Lead Researcher and Compiler for the Biannual Human Rights Reports at the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC). In this role, she was instrumental in documenting and bringing national attention to various human rights violations.
  • Gender Advocacy. She served as Legal Counsel for FIDA-Kenya (Federation of Women Lawyers), where she advocated for the protection of women's rights and improved access to justice for women in Kenya.
  • Legal Education. Furthermore, she contributed to legal empowerment as an Associate Consultant for the Legal Resources Foundation, an organization dedicated to ensuring that the poor and marginalized understand their legal rights.

Judiciary

  • Justice MÅ«mbi NgÅ«gì’s judicial career began with her appointment as a High Court of Kenya Judge in 2011, marking the start of a transformative decade in the Kenyan judiciary. Her initial posting was to the Constitutional and Human Rights Division at the Milimani High Court, where she served from 2011 to 2016 and gained national recognition for her landmark rulings on civil liberties. Following this tenure, she was appointed to a leadership role as the Presiding Judge of the Kericho High Court, serving there between 2016 and 2019. Her trajectory of judicial leadership continued in March 2019, when she was appointed as the Presiding Judge of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division at Milimani, a critical role focused on upholding integrity and the rule of law in Kenya’s highest-profile financial cases.

International & Committee Leadership

  • HIV/AIDS Advocacy. Chairperson of the Judicial Education Sub-Committee of the African Judges Forum on HIV and AIDS.
  • Commonwealth Contribution. Consultant for the Commonwealth Judicial Bench Book on Violence against Women in East Africa.
  • Global Memberships. Member of the International Association of Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ).
  • Judiciary Committees: Served on the Judiciary Leadership Advisory Committee, Disability Mainstreaming Committee, and the Sexual Harassment Policy Committee.
  • She was among the Co-founders of the albinism Foundation East Africa which gained momentum in 2008.

Awards

Ngūgì was given the Global Jurist Of The Year Award on February 21 by the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in Chicago. She has also received:

References