President William Ruto has appointed Dorcas Oduor as Attorney General. She currently serves as Director of Public Prosecutions at the Department of Public Prosecutions.
According to a statement by Public Service Director Felix Koskay, Oduor has over 30 years of experience in the legal sector.
“Senior Adviser Oduor has demonstrated impeccable integrity, great professional ability and an unwavering commitment to the rule of law,” the notice said.
First female AG
If approved by parliament, Oduor will become Kenya’s first female attorney-general and the ninth female attorney-general overall.
Starting with the first Attorney-General, Charles Mgane Njonjo, who served from independence in 1963 until 1979, all Attorney-Generals have been men. He was succeeded in 1981 by James Karugu, who had the shortest tenure as Attorney-General, and was followed by Joseph Kamere, who served from 1981 to 1983. Matthew Guy Muri served as Attorney-General from 1983 to 1991, and his successor, Amos Wako, had the longest tenure, from 1991 to 2011.
Professor Githu Muigai was the first Attorney-General after the promulgation of the Constitution and served from 2011 until April 2018, before being replaced by Justice Kihara Kariuki (retired) who served from 2018 to 2022.
When the Kwanzaa Kenya government was formed, President William Ruto appointed former Speaker of Parliament Justin Bedan Muturi as Attorney-General. Muturi served in the position from 2022 to July 2024, when he was sacked along with other cabinet ministers following widespread protests sparked by tax increases included in the 2024 Finance Bill.
Mr Oduor obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1990 and a Postgraduate Diploma from the Kenya Law School in 1991 before being admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya in 1992.
Additional reporting by Sam Kiplagat
