To say that Dr. James Muiruri was a very accomplished individual would be a gross understatement. Hi academic excellence I very admirable. He attended Mang’u and he a an extremely gifted student. In 2002, he was already studying law at K.S.P.S and was admitted to University of Kent at Canterbury in the UK due to his stellar performance. At the university he did not fall into mediocrity, but instead always amazed hi peer and lecturers with his insight and intellectual curiosity. At the age of 24 he graduated successfully with his LLB.
Some might have given in to complacency and given themselves a break, but not Dr. James Muiruri. He was accepted to the very prestigious Queen Mary’s Law school at the university of London in the same year he had received hi LLB. Within one-year age of 25, he was awarded a Masters Degree with Distinction in the field of international public law. This was a great victory. He was one of the only two people that academic year to be awarded hi LLM in international public law with a distinction. Even more amazing was the fact that he made history by becoming the first black African to have attained this great honour.
No one would have blamed Dr. James Muiruri for taking an academic break, but that was not his plan. Dr. JamesMuiruri did not tire from all his amazing endeavours. He was the type of person who always strived for more and kept rising to greater heights than people could ever imagined. He was awarded the highly coveted Drapers company prize for academic excellence. Due to his astonishing performance in his Masters Degree, the British Government awarded him a full scholarship to pursue a doctorate {PhD} at the university of Sheffield, he once again made history. In the 112 history of the year history of the university no one had ever completed their thesis and graduated in such a short time. He submitted his thesis ‘international intervention in the case of Darfur’ and received hi PhD in three years.
One could be forgiven for thinking that Dr. James Muiruri academic accomplishment came at the cost of sacrificing personal achievements. Dr. James Muiruri approached every situation and opportunity in his life with tenancy and optimism. His outlook on life might have been a result of surviving he 1998 bomb blast a he US. embassy in Nairobi. In his own word he said ‘that day I saw thing people should not have to see. I saw hell. I witnessed death and horror but at the same time I experienced the sheer display of human spirit. Kenyans helped, Kenyans did not run.’ In the same way Dr. James Muiruri lived a life where he assisted people. His philanthropic nature showed itself in his first legal victory during his undergraduate career. He represented a disabled man at the benefits tribunal in Kent county in 2004 and won. In Kenya, he facilitated he media for youth development workshop in Kibera. This is a program that aid needy youth to develop writing skills and focus energy on positive activities.
Another interesting character trait of DR. James Muiruri was his problem-solving skills. His post-bomb blast letter sums it up well. ‘as a victim of such an attack, I personally am not necessarily led to hate the perpetrators. Instead I have questions. I ask why?’ He was always interested in getting to the bottom of problems. At the university of Kent at Canterbury, he was a member of the East African Advisory Board. At the university of Sheffield, he tutored an undergraduate class foe international Law and was voted the best tutor. Having always been passionate about Africa and issues, he founded the East African Society at university of Sheffield. He was its first president and successfully led the group in winning all the awards there were to win. DR. James Muiruri still found time to serve as a motivational speaker in Kenya. He led engaging talks at USIU, K.S.P.S and various rural high schools. He was such an
Admired speaker,, that he was highly sought after to participate at the Commonwealth Law Conference that was held at KICC. Dr. James Muiruri always dreamed of being a commentator on contemporary global and social issues, and his dream was coming to fruition. He was the political editor for Kenya Imagine and he had covered issues ranging from social justice to human rights and political awareness. As proof of what a valued thinker Dr. James Muiruri was, the University of Shefield recently changed the name of it’s annuallaw conference to the “James Muiruri International Law Conference”. Dr. James Muiruri would have been a very highly valued individual not just here in Kenya, but worldwide. He had accomplished so much, but this was just the beginning of his journey.
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