The Attorney General of Kenya is the head of the Kenyan State Law Office, the principal legal adviser to the government of

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, and ''ex officio''

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

and

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. The current attorney general

Justin Muturi Justin Bedan Njoka Muturi (popularly known as JB) (born 28 April 1956) is the Current Attorney General of Kenya who also served as the seventh Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya, in office from 2013-2022. He is the first Speaker to serve f ...

was nominated by the President William Ruto in October 2022. His nomination was approved by the National Assembly on the 26 October2022, after the requisite vetting process.

History

The Office of the Attorney General draws its mandate from Article 156 of the Constitution of Kenya (2010), which vests on the Attorney General the responsibility of being the Principal Legal Adviser to the Government, to ensure that the rule of law is promoted, protected and upheld and defend the public interest. The Office of the Attorney General Act No. 49 of 201
spells out the functions of the office that include

Duties

The attorney general's duties include the formulation of legal policy and ensuring proper administration of Kenya's legal system including professional legal education. Assisting the Attorney General in the performance of his duties as Principal Legal Adviser to the Government are: * Solicitor General * Senior Deputy Solicitor General * Director of Public Prosecutions * Registrar General * Administrator General * Chairman of Advocates Complaints Commission * Chief Parliamentary Counsel * Chief State Counsel

Attorneys General of East Africa Protectorate (1895–1920)

* Alfred Karney Young (1906–1909) * Ralph Molyneux Combe (1912–1914) * Sir Jacob William Barth (1914–1918) (Chief Justice of Kenya, 1920) * Ivan Llewelyn Owen Gower (1918, acting) * Robert William Lyall-Grant (1918–1920)Kenya Gazette 13 Apr 1921

Attorneys General of British Kenya (1920–1963)

* Robert William Lyall-Grant (1920–1925) (

Chief Justice of Jamaica Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

, 1932) * Ivan Llewelyn Owen Gower (1925–1926) (acting) * Sir

Walter Huggard Sir Walter Clarence Huggard QC (d. 21 June 1957) was a British barrister, acting High Commissioner for the Bechuanaland Protectorate and Swaziland and Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements. Education Sir Walter was educated at Methodist Coll ...

(1926–1929) (afterwards Attorney General of Malaya, 1929) * Sir Alisdair Duncan Atholl MacGregor (1929–1934) * Walter Harragin (1933–1941) * Sir Stafford W.P. Foster Sutton (1944–1948) * Sir Kenneth O'Connor (1948– ) * John Whyatt (1951–1955) * Sir Eric Newton Griffiths-Jones (1955– ) * Diarmaid William Conroy ( –1960) (acting) * Sir Eric Newton Griffiths-Jones (1960–1963) Kenya Gazette 10 Jan 1961

Attorneys General of Kenya (since 1963)

* Charles Mugane Njonjo (1963–1979) * James B. Karugu (1980–1981) *

Joseph Kamere Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

(1981–1983) * Matthew Guy Muli (1983–1991) *

Amos Wako Amos Wako (born 31 July 1945) is a former Attorney General of Kenya and the first senator for Busia County from 2013 to 2017. Wako won the senatorial seat after defeating former minister of finance Chris Okemo. He won the senator seat on an Or ...

(1991–2011) *

Githu Muigai Githu Muigai (born 31 January 1960) is a Kenyan lawyer who was the Attorney General of the Republic of Kenya until February 13, 2018, when he resigned. He holds a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Nairobi, a master's degree in inte ...

(2011–2018) *

Paul Kihara Kariuki Paul Kihara Kariuki is a Kenyan lawyer and a former court of appeal president and judge. He was nominated for the post of Office of Attorney General of Kenya by President Uhuru Kenyatta on 13 February 2018 following the resignation of Githu Muigai ...

(2018–2022) *

(2022 - present)

References

External links

* Government agencies of Kenya * Judiciary of Kenya *List {{Africa-law-stub