Kenya has formally submitted the candidacy of Professor Phoebe Okowa for election as judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Foreign Affairs Secretary Musalia Mudavadi announced.
Mudavadi told diplomats in Nairobi that Kenya was seeking Okowa’s election in both the casual vacancy for 2025–2027 and the regular nine-year term running from 2027–2036.
The elections will take place in New York in November 2026, with candidates required to secure an absolute majority in both the UN General Assembly and the Security Council.
If elected, Prof Okowa would join Ugandan jurist Julia Sebutinde, currently the ICJ’s Vice-President, as one of the few African women to serve on the Court.
Her candidacy comes shortly after Somalia’s Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf announced his resignation from the ICJ, effective 30 September 2025.
Okowa, a professor of public international law at Queen Mary University of London, is widely recognized for her scholarship on state responsibility, international crimes and environmental justice.
First African woman
Since 2021, she has been a member of the UN International Law Commission (ILC), where she served as chair of its drafting committee.
Professor Okowa’s election to the International Law Commission (ILC) in 2021 was itself a groundbreaking achievement. She became the first African woman and the first Black woman ever elected to the body, which has counted only seven women among its 229 members since its founding in 1947.
Her candidacy, jointly nominated by Kenya and the United Kingdom, received overwhelming support in the UN General Assembly with 162 votes, underscoring her global recognition as a leading authority in international law. Her current term runs from 2023 to 2027.
In addition to her role at the ILC, Okowa was also elected an Associate Member of the Institut de Droit International during its session in Rabat in 2021.
The institute, founded in 1873 and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, is one of the oldest and most prestigious organizations devoted to the advancement of international law.
Distinguished jurists
Her membership places her among a select group of distinguished jurists shaping legal norms on a global scale, further cementing her reputation as a trailblazer in the field.
Born and educated in Kenya, Okowa graduated with first-class honours from the University of Nairobi before pursuing graduate studies at Oxford University, where she earned her PhD.
Her academic and professional career spans appointments at the University of Bristol, New York University Law School, the Graduate Institute in Geneva, and advisory roles for governments and cases before the ICJ and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Her candidacy is part of a wider diplomatic effort by Kenya to secure representation in key international organizations.
Landmark for Africa
Nairobi has also presented the candidature of Mohammed Ibrahim Amin for the Interpol Executive Committee, Delegate for Africa (2025–2028), and is seeking re-election to the International Maritime Organization Council under Category C (2026–2027).
The ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, is composed of 15 judges elected for nine-year terms. To ensure continuity, one-third of the bench is renewed every three years, with judges eligible for re-election.
Kenya’s diplomatic mission in New York recently hosted a reception for Professor Okowa, marking the official launch of her candidature.
Should she succeed, Okowa’s election would be a landmark not only for Kenya but for Africa, reflecting the continent’s growing role in shaping the development of international law.
