Kenyatta University Beats Oxford University in Global Law Competition

Kenyatta University (KU) has sailed to the finals of a global law competition after defeating UK’s Oxford University in the semi-finals.

Oxford, one of the most prestigious institution of higher learning in the world, was the defending champions in the Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition.

In the annual contest, law students from various universities across the world are given a hypothetical human rights case to argue. This year’s competition was held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sidney Tambasi Netya (a third year law student), and Martin Kioko Munyoto (a second-year law student) represented Kenyatta University in this year’s competition.

“We went into this competition with the determination to elevate the voice against violation of human rights, and to that extent, we are proud of achieving this level of success,” Netya told BBC.

In the other semi-final, Kenya’s Strathmore University trounced Universidad Catolica of Bolivia setting the stage for an all-Kenyan final.

This is the first time an African team (two in this case) has progressed to the finals of the competition since 2009. All the four students who will face-off in the finals are below the age of 23.

In 2019, students from Strathmore University School of Law became the first African team to win the John H. Jackson Moot Court on World Trade Organization (WTO) Law.

The team of three students, namely Mishael Wambua, Kandalla Maleehah, and Catherine Penda, made history after beating Harvard Law School in the final of the competition held in Geneva, Switzerland.

In the competition, participants are required to prepare and analyze a fictive case and present their arguments both for the Complainant and the Respondent in front of a panel which comprises of WTO and trade law experts.