Philip Kipchirchir Murgor is a Kenyan lawyer.

Early life and education

Philip Machatha Murgor was born on the 4th of July 1961 at Iten District Hospital to Christine Chebor, a nurse, in Elgeyo-Marakwet

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

(now Elgeyo-Marakwet

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

), Kenya. His father, Charles Murgor, was employed by colonial administration as a District Officer. Murgor spent his formative school years in Kiambu town, Central Province and Kisumu town, Nyanza Province. His father Charles retired as a Provincial Commissioner in 1969 and the family moved to Eldoret in present-day

Uasin Gishu County Uasin Gishu County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya located in the former Rift Valley Province. Eldoret has the county's largest population center as well as its administrative and commercial center. “It lies between longitudes 34 degrees ...

Education

In 1981, he joined the

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a collegiate research university based in Nairobi. It is the largest university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dates back to 1956, it did not become an independent univer ...

for his undergraduate

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

(LLB) degree. Upon graduation in 1985, he joined the

Kenya School of Law The Kenya School of Law (KSL) is the only bar school in Kenya. After completing an undergraduate degree in law from a recognized university, students attend the Kenya School of Law to prepare for admission to the Kenyan Bar. History The Kenya ...

for his post graduate Diploma in Law while undertaking his

pupillage A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan and Hong Kong, is the final, vocational stage of training for those wishing to become practising barristers. Pupillage is similar to an apprenticeship, during which bar ...

at Hamilton Harrison and Matthews.

Coup D'état

During the abortive coup d'état by the Kenya Air Force in 1982, Murgor and a couple of his classmates were arrested and charged with being sympathetic to the coup and demonstrating with seditious intentions. Murgor and his classmates were incarcerated to await trial under the authority of the then

Attorney General of Kenya The Attorney General of Kenya is the head of the Kenyan State Law Office, the principal legal adviser to the government of Kenya, and ''ex officio'' Member of Parliament and Cabinet. The current attorney general Justin Muturi was nominated by the ...

Joseph Kamere. He spent several months imprisoned before the incoming Attorney-General Matthew Guy-Muli who served as the Attorney General of Kenya between 1983 and 1991 dropped all charges against Philip and his classmates due to lack of evidence.

Kenya School of Law

Murgor went on to finalize his

with honors and thereafter, his post graduate diploma program at the

. While at the School of Law in 1986, he was selected, among seven others, to participate in an American student exchange program. During this period he had the opportunity to intern at the Superior Court of the United States in

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. In 2008, he returned to his alma mater University of Nairobi for his

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

(LLM) in

International Trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy) In most countries, such trade represents a significant ...

and Investments Law for which he graduated with honors in 2011.

Early career

As a law student, Murgor interned at Mereka & Company which specialized in

insurance law Insurance law is the practice of law surrounding insurance, including insurance policies and claims. It can be broadly broken into three categories - regulation of the business of insurance; regulation of the content of insurance policies, especial ...

. Thereafter, he joined Hamilton Harrison and Matthews, one of the oldest law firms with a strong commercial

civil litigation Civil law is a major branch of the law.Glanville Williams. '' Learning the Law''. Eleventh Edition. Stevens. 1982. p. 2. In common law legal systems such as England and Wales and the United States, the term refers to non-criminal law. The law ...

practice. After completing his studies, in 1986 he took a position as State Counsel in the Public Prosecutions Department, where he was posted to the

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the third-largest city in Kenya after the capital, Nairobi, and the coastal city of Mombasa (census 2019). It is the third-largest city after Kampala and Mwanza in the Lake Victoria Basin. Apart from being an important polit ...

Provincial State Counsel Office. As a criminal prosecutor, he was responsible for advising and directing the criminal investigators on the adequacy or direction of their investigations to ensure successful prosecutions. Public Prosecutor of Kenya Bernard Chunga transferred Murgor back to

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

in 1992

President
Daniel arap Moi Daniel Toroitich arap Moi ( ; 2 September 1924 – 4 February 2020) was a Kenyan politician who served as the second president of Kenya from 1978 to 2002. He was the country's longest-serving president. Moi previously served as the third vice ...
Election Petition Case

In 1992 Murgor resigned from the civil service and joined his wife in private practice at Murgor and Murgor Advocates. He was appointed to the legal team that defended President

Daniel arap Moi Daniel Toroitich arap Moi ( ; 2 September 1924 – 4 February 2020) was a Kenyan politician who served as the second president of Kenya from 1978 to 2002. He was the country's longest-serving president. Moi previously served as the third vice ...

in election petitions filed after the first multiparty general elections in 1992.

Goldenberg Scandal The Goldenberg scandal was a political scandal where the Kenyan government was found to have subsidised exports of gold far beyond standard arrangements during the 1990s, by paying the company Goldenberg International 35% more (in Kenyan shilling ...

In 1995, he was appointed by the

Central Bank of Kenya The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) ( sw, Banki Kuu ya Kenya) is the monetary authority of Kenya. Its head office is located in Nairobi. CBK was founded by in 1966 after the dissolution of East African Currency Board (EACB). Dr. Patrick Ngugi Njoroge ...

to unravel the

Goldenberg scandal The Goldenberg scandal was a political scandal where the Kenyan government was found to have subsidised exports of gold far beyond standard arrangements during the 1990s, by paying the company Goldenberg International 35% more (in Kenyan shilling ...

and recover the billions lost in the scam. His successful handling of the scandal cases on behalf of the

against Kamlesh Pattni and his associates led to direct threats to his life, which forced him to go public on the same. Thereafter, he was denied his legal fees in an attempt to force him to compromise the cases. He was eventually forced to quit the cases in 1998, rather than succumb to the threats. When Mwai Kibaki became President in 2003 on an anti-corruption platform, the president immediately re-appointed him to the

cases, and a month later he was appointed as the

Public Prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

, a post he reluctantly accepted on condition that he would be granted a free hand in reforming the failed public prosecution services, and prosecution perpetrators of grand corruption. By 2004, the Kibaki government had fallen back on its anti-corruption pledges, and many of officials had slipped into corruption the most significant of which was the Anglo-Leasing Scandal and trafficking of cocaine.

Anglo-Leasing Scandal

Murgor faced resistance in relation to the prosecution of Anglo-Leasing Scandal and a thorough investigation into a case involving the trafficking of 1.2 tonnes of cocaine worth KShs 6.4 billion. The cases were thwarted by Presidential insiders. The correlation between the prosecution and threats to his person was heightened when his home was attacked. He was terminated as

in May 2005.

Private Practice Career

Murgor returned to private practice as a Litigation Partner at Murgor and Murgor Advocates. In 2007, he took over as the Managing Partner at the Firm when his wife was appointed as Group Counsel and company secretary for East African Breweries Limited (EABL). In 2008, he represented the

in the Grand Regency Scandal on the sale of the Grand Regency Hotel. In 2011, he became the 10th Kenyan Lawyer and the 568th in the world to be admitted as a legal practitioner at the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals f ...

. Murgor has since handled several landmark cases touching on the enforcement of

fundamental rights Fundamental rights are a group of rights that have been recognized by a high degree of protection from encroachment. These rights are specifically identified in a constitution, or have been found under due process of law. The United Nations' Susta ...

under the new constitution relating to gender rights. Recently, he sued the directors and shareholders of Imperial Bank Limited on behalf of the

Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation KDIC is a statutory institution established under the Kenya Deposit Insurance Act, 2012 (KDI Act, 2012). The Corporation is mandated to provide a deposit insurance scheme for customers of member institutions, to provide incentives for sound risk ...

to recover KShs.45 Billion of customer deposits lost due their negligence and breach of fiduciary duties. Murgor supports

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.Kenya Wildlife Service Kenya Wildlife Service is a state corporation under the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife established by an act of Parliament; Wildlife Conservation and Management Act CAP 376, of 1989, now repealed and replaced by the Wildlife Conservation and Ma ...

and the Government of Kenya, he helped make history by participating in the destruction of 105 tonnes of

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...

Personal life

Murgor met his wife, Justice Agnes K. Murgor, in 1986 during their time in the exchange program in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

They were married in 1990 and have three children. They own a 650-acre dairy project .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murgor, Philip 1961 births Living people 20th-century Kenyan lawyers 21st-century Kenyan lawyers