Kenya has officially nominated Professor Phoebe Okowa for election as a judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Foreign Affairs Secretary Musalia Mudavadi confirmed in Nairobi. The country is backing her candidacy for both a casual vacancy from 2025–2027 and a full nine-year term from 2027–2036. Elections will be held in November 2026 in New York, where candidates must win an absolute majority in both the UN General Assembly and the Security Council.
If elected, Okowa would stand alongside Ugandan jurist Julia Sebutinde, the ICJ’s current Vice-President, as one of the few African women ever to sit on the UN’s top judicial body. Her nomination comes after Somali judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf announced his resignation, effective September 30, 2025.
Okowa is an internationally respected professor of public international law at Queen Mary University of London, widely known for her expertise in state responsibility, international crimes and environmental justice. She has been serving on the UN International Law Commission (ILC) since 2021, where she chaired its drafting committee. Her election to the ILC was historic—she became the first African woman, and the first Black woman, to ever join the body.
Born in Kenya, Okowa earned first-class honours at the University of Nairobi before completing her PhD at Oxford. She has held academic appointments in Bristol, New York and Geneva, and has advised governments while contributing to cases before the ICJ and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Kenya’s push for her election is part of a larger diplomatic campaign to raise its global profile. Alongside Okowa, Nairobi is also fronting Mohammed Ibrahim Amin for the Interpol Executive Committee (Africa Delegate, 2025–2028) and seeking re-election to the IMO Council.
If successful, Okowa’s win would not only cement her place as a trailblazer but also mark a significant milestone for Kenya and Africa, reinforcing the continent’s voice in shaping the future of international law.
