Legal team size: Four

Country you’re based in: Kenya

Spotlight On…My Career

My career path as an in-house counsel began over a decade ago as an entry level lawyer at OLA Energy Kenya. Starting at this level allowed me to learn the intricacies of the legal department from an in-house perspective and to a very detailed leve, specific to the peculiarities of the oil Iindustry. My growth path has led me to the current position with the OLA Energy Group as the East Region Legal Co-ordinator, covering affiliates in Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia, a position with its fair share of unique challenges, experiences, lessons and wins across different geographies and cultures.

Some of the experiences include challenging past norms and practices within the oil industry with respect to positions taken by government and regulatory authorities that had a negative impact on the oil industry on the imposition of taxes on operational petroleum product gains leading to a landmark judgement now cited by the Industry whenever similar claims come up.

During my tenure, I have managed to downsize the company’s litigation portfolio by closing over sixty (60) legal cases through various targeted approaches in view of the unique circumstance of each case.

The legal team has ensured that the company secures trading credit through contractual management and security instruments, mainly bank guarantees, which has proved to be very effective. We intentionally practice preventive litigation through risk management and resolving potential business disputes with the aim of averting unnecessary and expensive litigation. Risk management has had a direct impact saving the company from high expenditure hence supporting operating expense optimization initiatives. I have also had collaboration opportunities with other in-house counsel on industry matters as a member of the Petroleum Institute of East Africa (PIEA) Legal Technical Committee.

With respect to regional legal practice, we have effectively cast the group’s corporate business objectives to the affiliates, with the legal team playing a key role. Compliance and governance have been a key focus area for the affiliates in the East Region on matters pertaining to regulatory compliance, board governance, profits repatriation and management of change.

I have jointly with a team from one of the East Region affiliates, been able to avert the nationalization of the affiliate’s facilities through a complex legal process receiving recognition from the OLA Group’s top Management in the UAE. Serving in the capacity of Trust Secretary for the OLA Energy Defined Contributions (DC) and Defined Benefits Pension Funds alongside the Board of Trustees, relevant service providers and the Retirement Benefits Authority, has enabled my understanding of the regulatory requirements of the Pension industry hence extending effective support to the Board of Trustees as they undertake the very critical fiduciary responsibility. I was able to ensure compliance by both Funds which have a combined investment of over two billion Kenya Shillings. The Funds have consistently posted positive returns above industry average despite a challenging market with the most recent returns for the Defined Contributions Fund being a net return of 16% for the year ended 31st December 2024.

The most interesting experiences however remain the leading, training and empowering formidable young lawyers in my team who stand out as dependable, bold, ethical, meticulous and pragmatic. They will make great future leaders in in-house legal practice. I am also proud to have bridged the gap between the legal department and the business of the company by fostering accessibility and communication for legal support and taking a keen interest in understanding the operations of the departments and participating in business forums to establish the nexus point for best legal support.