After an arduous eight-year pursuit, Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Kipyego Ngeno is set to be admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. On 23 June 2025, the Acting Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Legal Education, Jennifer Gatiri, published Ngeno’s name and credentials in a special gazette notice, confirming that the legislator, who enrolled at the Kenya School of Law in 2017 under admission number CLE20170074, has passed the requisite nine examinations.
The gazette notice also indicates that Ngeno successfully completed the oral examinations, projects, and a six-month pupillage at an accredited law firm or centre, fulfilling the requirements for admission to the Kenyan Bar. His name appears alongside 228 other candidates slated to join the Bar in the coming months, following the last admission in June 2025.
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The notice states: “Pursuant to section 8(1)(f) of the Legal Education Act, 2012, it is notified for general information that the following two hundred and twenty-nine (229) persons have complied with the provisions of section 13 of the Advocates Act (Cap. 16) of the Laws of Kenya as to passing examinations and pupillage, subject to such exemptions as may have been granted under subsection 13(2) of the Advocates Act.”
Barring any adverse submissions within one month of the publication, Ngeno and the other candidates will petition the Chief Justice for admission to the Bar. A second notice will confirm the successful candidates, followed by a final notice on the day of admission and signing of the Roll of Advocates. Ngeno, an alumnus of Maseno School, completed his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in 1991. He holds a law degree from a university in Ukraine, a second bachelor’s degree, and a master’s degree from the University of Nairobi. Representing Emurua Dikirr as MP since 2013, Ngeno previously contested the Kilgoris constituency election in 2007, losing amid controversial and violent circumstances.
Kenyan and foreign law graduates who studied abroad must pass a pre-Bar examination administered by the Kenya School of Law before enrolling in the 10-month Advocates Training Programme.
Until a Court of Appeal judgment in 2024, the Kenya School of Law exclusively set admission criteria and taught the programme on behalf of the Council of Legal Education. Unless overturned, this ruling allows other colleges to offer the programme, with the Council of Legal Education overseeing the curriculum, admissions, and standards.
