Anne Atieno Amadi is a Kenyan lawyer who since January 2014 has served as the Chief Registrar of the Kenya Judiciary.

Education

Amadi attended Tans Nzoia Primary School and Kapsabet Girls for her A Levels. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi and a Master of Criminal Justice from Boston University. She also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in the Law of Internal Displacement from the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, San Remo, Italy; a Post Graduate Diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution from California State University, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Kenya School of Law.

Early career

Anne Amadi was admitted to the bar in Kenya in 1987. After a short stint as State Counsel in the Civil Litigation Department in the Office of the Attorney General, she joined the Judiciary as a District Magistrate in 1991, leaving in 1997 at the rank of Resident Magistrate. She left the Judiciary to practice law privately with her firm, A. A. Amadi & Co. Advocates between 1997 and 2003.^[1]

She moved to the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Kenya in 2003, helping set up its office in Mombasa, and rose to the position of the Deputy Executive Director and Head of Litigation by the time she left in May 2008.

Amadi also served between 2008 and 2011 as the National Coordinator of the National Legal Aid and Awareness Programme (NALEAP), now known as the National Legal Aid Service (NLAS).

On leaving NALEAP in 2011, she had a stint as an independent consultant on the rule of law, working with the Law Society of Kenya, Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), among others, on diverse projects, including access to justice, governance, and alternative dispute resolution. Notably, she contributed to the establishment of the Credit Ombud office and coordinated the Supporting Access to Justice for Children and Youth in East Africa (SAJCEA), a four year project between the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) and key partners in three countries in East Africa: Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Chief Registrar of the Kenya Judiciary

Amadi returned to the Judiciary in January 2014, having been appointed as the Chief Registrar on a five year contract.^[2] She succeeded Gladys Boss Shollei, who left office in October 2013.^[3]

In her capacity as the Chief Registrar, Amadi administered the oath of office to President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2017 and to President William Ruto in 2022.

Her five-year contract was renewed in 2019 and is set to lapse in January 2024.

References