Speaker Bio

Migai Akech holds a Doctoral degree in law and a Master of Law degree in Trade Regulation from New York University (NYU) School of Law, a Master of Law degree from the University of Cambridge, and a bachelor’s degree in law (First Class Honours) from the University of Nairobi. Migai is the proprietor of Prof. Migai Akech & Associates, Advocates, a law firm based in Nairobi that specializes in International Trade Law (including the African Continental Free Trade Area). 

Migai is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a member of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and a member of the American Chamber of Commerce, Kenya Branch.

Migai teaches law at the University of Nairobi’s School of Law. He is an accomplished legal scholar and practitioner with an extensive knowledge base and experience in governance, regulatory compliance and trade regulation.

• He is currently advising the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho on constitutional and anti-corruption reforms.
• He has advised the Government of Kenya in the negotiation of an international free trade agreement.
• He worked as a Governance Expert at the African Union’s African Peer Review Mechanism (2018-2020).
• He drafted the Judiciary of Kenya’s innovative Bail and Bond Policy Guidelines (2015).
• He drafted the legal instruments for the Lake Region Economic Bloc (2018), using an innovative approach that the Government subsequently adopted in its policy on County Economic Blocs.
• He has consulted – as an expert on international trade agreements, policy development and analysis, rule of law, governance, devolution, anti-corruption, accountability, police reforms, justice sector reforms, prosecutorial reforms, legislative reforms, transitional justice, environmental crime, reform of criminal law and procedures, sentencing policy development, land policy development, curriculum development, monitoring human rights compliance, and mineral policies and regulatory frameworks – for local and international organizations, including the African Union (African Peer Review Mechanism), the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Open Society, German Technical Cooperation, and the World Bank.
• He has worked for these organizations in Kenya, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Rwanda, Somaliland, South Africa, the Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania.
Migai is a prolific author and has published widely on legal and public policy issues, including:
• Administrative Law (Strathmore University Press, 2016) (a textbook).
• Privatization and Democracy in East Africa: (East African Educational Publishers, 2009).
• Constraining Government Power in Africa (Journal of Democracy, 2011).
• Regulation of Trade in Genetically Modified Foods (Fordham International Law Journal, 2006).
• Governance of Public Procurement in Kenya (NYU Journal of International Law and Politics, 2005).
• The African Growth and Opportunity Act: Implications for Kenya’s Trade and Development (NYU Journal of International Law and Politics, 2001).
• The Basic Structure Doctrine of the Constitution (Nairobi Star, 11 December 2020).
Migai plays football and has chaired the Kenyan Premier League’s Independent Disciplinary and Complaints Committee.