President Ruto has nominated the first female Attorney General in the history of Kenya’s government’s legal corridors of justice. Dorcas Oduor, who is the secretary of public prosecutions at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), replaces Justin Muturi, who was sacked by the President on July 11, 2024.
Dorcas Oduor is a graduate of Master’s degree in International Conflict Management and a Bachelor of Law from the University of Nairobi. She’s also a diploma holder in law from the Kenya School of Law (KSL).
Justin Muturi, who has been in the office for only eighteen months since 2022 after Ruto’s presidential win, has been nominated to serve as the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service. He replaces Moses Kuria, who was barely in office for five months following the Cabinet reshuffle in October last year.
Dorcas Oduor, who is currently the High Court Advocate, will become the first female Attorney General in the history of the Republic of Kenya if she is confirmed by the President after being approved by the National Assembly.
Kenya has had several Attorneys General since independence, each serving in a critical legal advisory role to the government of Kenya. Charles Njonjo was the Attorney General of Independence, Kenya. Njonjo served in both Jomo Kenyatta’s and Daniel Moi’s governments.
He’s the longest-serving Attorney General in Kenya’s history and the most influential in the Jomo Kenyatta government. Charles Njonjo served for 17 years in the government’s legal framework and corridors of justice, from 1963 to 1980.
James Karugu, Njonjo’s successor, had the shortest and least productive term as the Second Attorney General in Kenya. Served for only one year, from 1980 to 1981, and left the office just a year after the foiled attempted coup of 1982.
The late president Moi, who reigned the country for almost three decades after Kenyatta’s demise in 1978, had at least five Attorney Generals managing and overseeing several legal reforms during his tenure. Charles Njonjo, James Karugu, Joseph Kamere, Mathew Guyi Muli, and Amos Wako all served partially and fully in President Moi’s regime.
