NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 21 — Lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi has questioned the government’s strategy of fielding candidates for judicial positions at both the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice within the same electoral cycle.
In a statement, Abdullahi warned that the move could undermine Kenya’s chances of securing representation at either court.
He argued that nominating candidates with overlapping election timelines risks weakening the country’s diplomatic leverage.
“So what is the Government of Kenya smoking?” Abdullahi posed, questioning the rationale behind launching two campaigns simultaneously.
“Kenya knows it doesn’t have the leverage or political gravitas on the international plane to have two judges in the ICJ and ICC,” he added.
Kenya has formally launched the candidature of Phoebe Okowa for a full nine-year term at the ICJ covering 2027–2036, even as it nominated Njoki Ndung’u for election as a judge of the ICC in December 2026.
Abdullahi said the overlapping timelines could complicate Kenya’s diplomatic push, warning that if Ndung’u secures the ICC seat in 2026, Okowa’s bid for a full ICJ term the following year could face resistance from countries seeking broader regional representation.
“Many countries will rightly argue during the December elections for the ICC that Kenya already has Prof. Okowa at the ICJ and electing Justice Njoki to the ICC isn’t fair to regional or international representation,” he said.
Okowa was elected to the ICJ in November 2025 to fill a casual vacancy created by the resignation of Somali judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf. Her current term runs until February 2027, and she became only the eighth woman in history to sit on the world court.
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’Oei earlier defended her candidacy, describing her as a trailblazer whose scholarship and practical expertise have shaped global jurisprudence.
“As the first African woman on the International Law Commission and now a judge of the world court, Judge Okowa is a trailblazer,” Sing’Oei said during the launch of her re-election campaign.
Meanwhile, President William Ruto nominated Ndung’u—who has served as a Supreme Court judge since 2011—as Kenya’s candidate for the ICC judicial elections scheduled for December 2026.
The elections, to be held during the Assembly of States Parties session from December 7 to 17, will fill six judicial seats at the Hague-based court.
Ndung’u is expected to face competition from candidates nominated by several countries, including Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Switzerland, Colombia and Japan.
Abdullahi termed the dual candidacies a “strategic misstep,” warning that running two high-profile campaigns in the same cycle risks setting one up for failure.
“Of the two good ladies, who is being set up for failure and why?” he posed.
“So what really informs Kenya’s strategic step to have the two run for the two courts in the same electoral cycle?”
The government has not respoded to the criticism.
