Kenya steps up lobbying after nominating Prof. Phoebe Okowa for International Court of Justice seat

Kenya has intensified its campaign for a seat on the International Court of Justice (ICJ), nominating Professor Phoebe Okowa as its candidate in elections scheduled for November 2025.

If successful, she would become the first Kenyan and only the seventh woman in history to sit on the world court.

Kenya's foreign affairs machinery is already in full swing. Korir Sing'oei, the Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs, sought support in Singapore during the Singapore–Africa Ministerial Meeting last week, where he met Luke Goh, the Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

"We discussed our candidatures for the position of a Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where I sought Singapore's support for Prof. Phoebe Okowa for the seat," he posted on X.

In Singapore, he also secured an audience with Ivorian foreign minister Kacou Houadja Léon Adom to press the same case.

Meanwhile, at the UN in New York, Kenya's permanent representative, Ekitela Lookale, hosted members of the diplomatic corps at the Kenya Mission for the official launch of Okowa's candidacy last week.

The ICJ, seated in The Hague, is the UN's principal judicial organ. It adjudicates disputes between states, from maritime boundaries to the use of force, and gives advisory opinions on legal questions referred by UN bodies.

With only 15 judges drawn from around the globe, elected by both the UN General Assembly and the Security Council, elections are notoriously competitive.

Winning a seat requires deft diplomacy and cross-regional alliances.

An outstanding jurist

Okowa is by all measures a heavyweight. She was the first African woman elected to the UN International Law Commission, where she currently chairs its Drafting Committee.

A professor of public international law at Queen Mary University of London, she has taught and advised at Princeton, New York University, Stockholm University, and the Graduate Institute in Geneva.

Kenya decorated her with the Order of the Burning Spear, one of its highest honours.

Her legal practice is equally formidable. She has appeared before the ICJ and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, representing states in disputes on maritime delimitation, climate change, and human rights.

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• Ekitela Lookale
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PR @eelokaale hosted members of diplomatic corps in New York at the Kenya Mission for the launch of Prof. Phoebe Okowa’s candidature to the International Court of Justice. If elected in November 2025, Prof. Okowa would be the first Kenyan judge at the Court. pic.twitter.com/wwoEaGDOKN

— Permanent Mission of Kenya to the UN 🇰🇪 🇺🇳 (@KenyaMissionUN) August 26, 2025

She has acted as counsel for Namibia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, the DRC, and The Gambia.

"My experience bridges scholarship with practical litigation," she has said, an uncommon blend in a court often divided between academics and practitioners.

Okowa pitches herself as an independent, principled jurist with an eye to the global challenges of the 21st century.

"I will serve with intellectual discipline and empathy, recognising that the Court's legitimacy rests on understanding all States, no matter their size," she has stated in her campaign material.

Her candidacy arrives at a moment when the ICJ is under growing scrutiny, having recently been seized with high-profile cases on genocide, climate obligations, and the legality of the use of force.