Paul Kihara Kariuki, who served as Kenya's Attorney General from 2018 to 2022 and earlier led the Court of Appeal, has died at the age of 72. Chief Justice Martha Koome confirmed the death in a statement issued on Tuesday, November 3, according to The Star, Kenya.
Koome, speaking for the Judiciary, sent condolences to Kariuki's family, friends and colleagues, and to others affected by his long career in public service. She described him as a skilled legal scholar, a strong judicial leader and a committed public servant, and said his work on the administration of justice and on building Kenya's legal institutions would remain part of the Judiciary's history.
Why it matters
Kariuki's career touched nearly every level of Kenya's legal system: private practice, the High Court, the Court of Appeal, judicial training and finally the Office of the Attorney General, the government's chief legal advisory office. He helped set up institutions that still shape how judges and lawyers are trained, and he led reform efforts aimed at making courts work faster and reach more of the country. Koome said his legacy would live on through the bodies he helped create, the changes he pushed for and the many legal professionals who learned under his leadership.
From Kiambu to the bench
Kariuki was born on May 11, 1954, in Kiambu County, The Star, Kenya reports. His father was the late Anglican bishop Obadiah Kariuki, and his mother, Lillian Wairimu, was a daughter of Senior Chief Koinange. He attended Nairobi School and then the University of Nairobi, earning a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1977.
His legal career began at the Nairobi firm Hamilton, Harrison and Mathews Advocates, where he worked as an assistant from 1977 to 1980 and then as a partner from 1981 to 1986. In 1986 he co-founded Ndungu Njoroge and Kwach Advocates and practised there until 2000. He went on to head the Kenya School of Law.
In October 2003, then-President Mwai Kibaki appointed him a High Court judge, bringing him into the Judiciary. He served as a duty judge at the High Court and, in 2006, chaired an integrity review committee set up by former Chief Justice Evan Gicheru.
Building judicial training and leading the Court of Appeal
In 2009, Kariuki was chosen to lead the newly created Judicial Training Institute, where he put in place the groundwork for organised judicial education and professional development. Koome singled out that role in her tribute, noting that the institute later grew into the Kenya Judiciary Academy.
He was later appointed to the Court of Appeal and became its President in 2013, holding that position until 2018. In that role, The Star, Kenya reports, he pressed for reforms to make court operations more efficient and accessible and to spread court services beyond the capital.
He left the Judiciary in 2018 when former President Uhuru Kenyatta nominated him as Attorney General on February 13, following the resignation of Githu Muigai. He served as the government's principal legal adviser until 2022.
Koome said the Judiciary was grieving his death while also marking a life given to the law, to public service and to strengthening the institutions that protect the rule of law. She asked for strength and comfort for his family and called his contribution to the country lasting and notable.
What to watch: further statements from Kenya's legal and political circles, and details of funeral arrangements, are likely to follow in the coming days.
