Law Firms in Africa

About Me

JA was called to the Bar in Kenya in the year 2010. He undertook his pupillage instruction at Kaplan & Stratton and spent his first two and a half years post admission at the said firm as an Intellectual Property law practitioner. He later joined Oraro& Co’s dispute resolution department until the year 2017 when he founded the current practice. JA was also the prestigious International Lawyers for Africa (ILFA) 2014 Kenyan Secondee to Clifford Chance LLP and Essex Court Chambers Barristers in London where he gained considerable experience in Project finance practice and Intellectual property law rights enforcement.

Currently in his 13th year as a practitioner, JA offers a blend of high value experience in diverse practice areas in commercial and public law. Acting either as the lead and as a led counsel with senior counsel of high repute in Kenya, JA is regarded as a leading practitioner on insolvencies, intellectual property, environment and land, unjust enrichment, public procurement, constitutional and judicial review disputes and appears regularly in courts at the highest level including at the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Kenya.

He has carved out key expertise in handling election disputes spanning from pre-nomination to post election disputes, advises and has successfully represented renowned Governors and law makers in both houses of parliament in Kenya on a diverse range of electoral disputes since 2013. Notably, JA was the lead drafter and counsel on record for the Petitioners in the historical 2017 presidential election petition that overturned that year’s presidential election results (the first ever of its kind in Africa). He continues to take keen interest in constitutional law litigation.

Education

• Master of Business Administration Degree (Finance) – University of Nairobi – 2016
• LLB (Hons) (Second Class Upper Division) – Moi University – 2008
• Post Graduate Diploma in Law – 2010 – Kenya School of Law
• Advanced Certifications from WIPO Academy, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and Harvard University

Board Memberships

• 2017 to date: Board member – Law Society of Kenya Savings & Credit Cooperative Society Limited Board of Management – A regulated Financial Institution
• 2021 to date: Board member – Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB)

Experience

• Employment redundancies – a long running dispute between employees of Kenya Airways Limited and the Airline which the courts were called upon to determine the legality of a declaration of hundreds of employees redundant by the national carrier. This was argued all the way to the Supreme Court and is now the leading and binding authority on redundancy laws on Kenya. The Court of Appeal and Supreme court in settling grey areas on the law of redundancies under the current 2010 constitution re-affirmed the right of employers to declare redundancies and the right of employees to due process.
• Taxation of Royalties arising from a ‘sale’ of trademarks– a dispute involving the taxation of royalties and any gains derived from the sale or exchange of any right or property giving rise to that royalty. This case determined the very fine point under the Income Tax Act that the sale of a non-exclusive and non-transmissible authorization to use the Trade Marks, manifestations and the word “SHELL” as a part of its corporate name without payment of royalty was NOT a sale of a property giving rise to royalty within the meaning of Section 2 of the Income Tax Act and hence NOT chargeable to tax.
• Insolvency of a regulated insurance company – in a dispute concerning the liquidation of regulated insurance companies and in which a liquidation order had been issued by the court, JA successfully overturned the said liquidation and assisted the court distinguish insolvency provisions applicable to ordinary companies vis-à-vis regulated companies.
• The Gas bulk storage facility licensing – in a dispute involving the issuance of an environmental impact assessment license for a proposed mounded bulk storage facility off the Kipevu Oil Terminal in Mombasa, JA successfully defended the Opponent from spurious allegations of failure to comply with industry safety standards that threatened the safety of the environment and the people of Changamwe area of Mombasa, Kenya. JA has acted in several similar environmental disputes before the National Environmental Tribunal and Superior Courts.
• Intellectual Property law – JA has defended several Trademark opposition and objection proceedings before the Registrar of Trademarks and at the superior courts, lodged several device and word trademark applications and entered the local stage of PCT patent applications in Kenya. He is an established Intellectual Property law practitioner and is registered as a trademark agent by the Kenya Industrial Property Institute.
• The Rwanda Power transmission line dispute – a dispute involving the enforcement of a cross-border performance guarantee against a local financial institution JA acts for the Rwanda Energy Group, a state corporation sued for alleged breach of obligations in a contract for the construction and development of a power transmission line.
• The 2017 Presidential election petition – This was a precedent setting presidential election dispute in which JA was instructed as the lead drafter and Advocate on record for Rt. Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga and Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka in the Petition challenging the outcome of the 2017 Presidential election petition. The case was the first of its kind in Africa to overturn a presidential election and order a re-run. The case has since established a precedent followed in several countries in Africa and the world. Notably, JA has been assisting counsel in two other Presidential election Petitions before the High Court of Kenya and has successfully defended election Petitions against Governors, Senators and Members of Parliament in Kenya.
• The Political Parties’ Fund (a statutory fund established for distribution to political parties) – in a dispute involving the question as whether an unopposed candidate in an election garners ‘votes’ in an election for purposes of allocation of the Political Parties fund. JA assisted both the Political Parties Tribunal and the High Court to clarify the point that the reading in of such an assumption into law would amount to substantive law making by the court in violation of the principle of separation of powers and would in the event expose the law to too make variables and absurdities not intended by the legislature.
• The proposed Constitutional amendment by popular initiative (BBI cases)– JA was instructed amongst other senior counsel in the dispute involving the proposed amendment to the constitution of Kenya by popular initiative. This case defined the very fine contours of fundamental constitutional law questions including the scope of liability of a sitting president for acts done while in office, the (un)amendability of certain clauses of the Constitution/the basic structure doctrine, the role of the Independent Electoral & Boundaries Commission in a proposed amendment to the constitution etc. The case was argued before the High Court, court of appeal and the Supreme Court and was precedent setting in so far as the (un)amendability of the constitution is concerned.
• The threatened removal of the Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya– This was a long running dispute on the attempted removal of the Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya on the allegation of abuse of office and corruption. JA acted for the Deputy chief Justice alongside other senior counsel in a series of cases at the magistrates courts, the High court, court of appeal and the Judicial Service Commission that successfully quashed and/or stayed criminal proceedings mounted against the DCJ with the ultimate objective of removing her from office.
• The Public Procurement Administrative Review Board – As a member of the Board, JA presides over procurement disputes involving tenderers and procuring entities mostly private tenderers and government parastatals respectively. JA has acted in the said position since late 2020 and has as such gained invaluable experience in the resolution of fine points of law in public procurement disputes.
• The intergrated information management system & data protection – Represented the Kenya Human Rights Commission in a suit challenging a new law that empowers the Executive to collect citizen’s personal information contrary to privacy and security guarantees in the constitution and internationally acclaimed standards and principles of data and privacy protection.
• Intellectual property rights – Successfully advised and represented various local and international corporations in the registration of trademarks and Patents in Kenya and internationally and in several opposition and expungement proceedings before the Registrar of Trademarks.