Nixon Sifuna Appointed to Kenya High Court

Nixon Sifuna (right) is sworn in as Judge of the High Court of Kenya.

More than 20 years ago, ELAW met Nixon Sifuna, PhD, a Kenyan grassroots attorney. He traveled to Eugene in 2002 as an ELAW Fellow and I traveled to meet him in Kenya as he worked to protect forests through a case he filed at Kenya’s High Court at Eldoret.

Two days after winning preliminary rulings, Nixon was arrested and imprisoned overnight, without cause. He was never charged and carried on with his good work.

Nixon wrote recently and shared the good news that on December 5, 2022, he was sworn in as Judge of the High Court of Kenya. The ceremony was conducted at the State House in Nairobi and witnessed by Kenya’s President William Samoei Ruto.

Nixon wrote:

“My appointment was a culmination of almost 30 years of sustained activism and public interest litigation in human rights and environmental protection. It is an honor, as was ELAW’s Eldoret visit and support in 2001 when I was handling the famous forest case (which became a landmark environmental public interest case). Long live ELAW and my sincere gratitude to you all!”

 We are inspired by Nixon’s decades of public service and congratulate him on his appointment to the High Court.

 

Jen Gleason
Law Program Director
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide