Winning at Law

This podcast episode is a civic education engagement focusing on the issue of femicide. The LawDown Africa is the official legal partner working on a mobilization campaign supported by Usikimye, an NGO that focuses on GBV sensitization and GBV survivor care, and Ogilvy Africa. To bring the legal insights and shed light on the practicability of criminalizing femicide, we spoke to Caroline Muriu, a Prosecution Counsel who has prosecuted GBV, sexual assault, defilement, manslaughter, and murder cases at the local and High Court levels. Gain insights into the judicial process for handling GBV and femicide cases, how the crimes above escalate into femicide, and why femicide should be criminalized and what that would look like.

As we continue our #SheDidThat! Campaign this women’s month, our guest in this episode is Liz Lenjo. Liz Lenjo is an Advocate of the High Court, A thought leader in Entertainment Law, IP Law, and Fashion Law, and a legal entrepreneur. Enjoy this insightful yet vulnerable and heartwarming episode as Ms Lenjo reflects on her career journey through the legal sphere, including how intentionality shaped her career choices and subsequent outcomes. Learn from her as she unpacks her achievements, low moments, and lessons in her journey to #BecomingWakili, creating lasting impact and holding out a light for the next generation of lawyers by paying it forward through mentorship.

Happy Women’s History Month! Our distinguished guest in this episode, the first of a series of episodes for our 2025 Women’s History Month, is Pat Mbugua. Ms. Mbugua is an award-winning lawyer with a career spanning over two decades, first at Walker Kontos, a tier-one law firm, where she grew from a pupil to partner, and later in the banking sector, serving as in-house counsel in various banking institutions, including Bank of Africa and Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Limited. Pat is passionate about mentorship, and as part of our #SheDidThat! Women’s month campaign, she lays it all bare. Listen to this heart-warming conversation, as she reflects on her journey in law and beyond the brief, owns her achievement and encourages the next generation of lawyers with invaluable words of wisdom.

This episode is a snippet of Kenya’s First-ever Law Career Fair organized by The LawDown Africa, an online legal magazine. The event, which was held on the 31st of August 2024 at the Kenya School of Law, Karen Campus, bore the theme: Exploring Legal Horizons. Therefore, it included a panel discussion on the diversity of the legal sector featuring: Pat Mbugua of StanChart and former Partner at Walker Kontos Mrs. Rispah Simiyu, Commissioner for Domestic Taxes at KRA Ayieta Lumbasyo, Founder, Fertility Law Clinic, Timothy Owase, CEO of Kenya Film Commission. Mr Owase went to law school in 2019 despite having a master’s in Communication (A young lawyer with 20+ years of experience in storytelling, marketing, and communication) Dr. Maurice Ajwang’, Dean Faculty of Law Daystar University (Dr. Ajwang’ also facilitated a masterclass in sports law) Mary Njeri, Team Lead, Ending Violence against Women and Girls, UN Women Kenya Listen to the six panelists, each an industry caption in their own right, as they explore the ins and outs of practicing law in their respective industries. Learn from them as they reflect on the lessons they’ve learned in their journeys to #BecomingWakili (things they don’t tell you in Law School).

June has multiple observances focusing on children and child rights, including International Children’s Day, International Day of the African Child, and World Day Against Child Labor. So, we had a chat with Joy Katunge Matheka, an Advocate of the High Court and a Children’s Law expert. Ms. Katunge scooped the Civil Society Lawyer of the Year Award during the 2021 Nairobi Legal Awards, owing to her contribution to child protection activities. She shares her journey of grace into child protection law (which she considers her true calling) while unpacking the scope of children’s rights and her experiences practicing law in CSOs. Additionally, she highlights the strides the Kenyan government has made in upholding child protection, and what lawyers can do to promote children’s rights in their spheres of influence.