Former Attorney-General Paul Kihara Kariuki Dies at 72

Chief Justice Martha Koome announced on Tuesday, November 3, that former Attorney-General and retired Judge Paul Kihara Kariuki had died at the age of 72.

Koome called him an accomplished jurist, exemplary judicial leader and dedicated public servant whose contributions to Kenya’s legal institutions will remain part of the country’s history.

President William Ruto issued a condolence message praising Kariuki’s role as the founding director of the Judiciary Training Institute and his broader impact on the development and strengthening of Kenya’s legal and judicial institutions.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta expressed sympathy for the family and highlighted Kariuki’s leadership of the Court of Appeal and his service as the seventh Attorney-General from 2018 to 2022, noting the lasting mark on Kenya’s institutions.

Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka described the jurist as a dedicated servant of the law whose career was defined by service to the Constitution and ordinary Kenyans seeking justice.

Former Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi, who succeeded Kariuki as Attorney-General in October 2022, mourned the loss and said Kariuki’s work advanced the administration of justice, upheld the rule of law and strengthened Kenya’s legal framework.

Kariuki was born on May 11, 1954 in Kiambu, the son of the late Bishop Obadiah Kariuki and Lilian Wairimu, daughter of Senior Chief Koinange, and attended Nairobi School before earning a law degree from the University of Nairobi in 1977.

He began his legal practice as an assistant at Hamilton, Harrison and Matthews Advocates from 1977 to 1980, became a partner from 1981 to 1996 and co-founded his own firm in 1986.

In 2003 he was appointed a High Court judge by President Mwai Kibaki, and in 2006 chaired an integrity review committee appointed by Chief Justice Evan Gicheru that examined the Judiciary’s financial management.

He became the first director of the Judiciary Training Institute in 2009, later the Kenya Judiciary Academy, and served as Principal and Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya School of Law, overseeing its relocation to Karen.

Elected by his peers as the first President of the Court of Appeal under the 2010 Constitution, he served from 2013 to 2018, introducing reforms such as decentralising appellate services and helping draft the Court of Appeal Bill and a strategic plan.

In February 2018 President Uhuru Kenyatta nominated him to replace Prof Githu Muigai as Attorney-General; Parliament approved the nomination in March and he was sworn in the following month, becoming Kenya’s seventh Attorney-General.

His tenure coincided with high-profile disputes between the Executive and the Judiciary, including the 2019 impasse over the appointment of 41 judges recommended by the Judicial Service Commission and the government’s defence of the Building Bridges Initiative, which reached the Supreme Court in 2022.

The Law Society of Kenya in 2020 threatened to have him removed from the Roll of Advocates over alleged professional misconduct related to the judges’ appointments and the gazetting of advocates as essential service providers during the Covid-19 curfew, but interim High Court orders restrained the society pending determination.

Kariuki also served as an honorary legal advisor to the Anglican Church of Kenya and held a Postgraduate Diploma from the Kenya School of Law.