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Hon. Lady Justice Joyce Aluoch and Dr Sylvie Bebohi Ebongo Appointed to the AfAA Board of Directors

We are pleased to announce the appointments of Hon. Lady Justice Joyce Aluoch and Dr Sylvie Bebohi Ebongo who were appointed to the AfAA Board of Directors as of 29th April 2021. The appointments will ensure the AfAA Board has adequate regional representation in East Africa and Francophone West Africa.

Hon. Lady Justice Joyce Aluoch, EBS, CBS, (Retired) is a former Judge and First Vice-President of the International Criminal Court at The Hague, The Netherlands.  Prior to that, she was a Judge of the Court of Appeal and High Court in Kenya, having been appointed the second woman Judge in Kenya.  She has a Master’s Degree in International Affairs (GMAP), from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Boston, USA, which granted her the Distinguished Achievement Award in April 2015, and in September 2018, the same University awarded her its top Award, ”The Class of 1947 Award” (honoris causa ),making her the first black person to receive such an honour only bestowed on one who has embodied the school’s mission and its founding ideals throughout their career. She also has an LLB Degree from the University of Nairobi, and Diploma from the Kenya School of Law.  Upon retirement from the bench in March 2018, Justice Aluoch successfully moved her legal profession to ADR, particularly Mediation. She is a Certified Mediator, International Mediation Institute (IMI), a Certified Advanced Mediator (CAM) and a Chartered Mediator (ICMC) MTI-East Africa, as well as an Accredited Mediator, Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution Centre, London-UK. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London, and the Kenya branch, the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) Peace Palace, (The Hague), Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration and African Arbitration Association. She conducts mediations under the High Court Annexed Mediation program, Kenya, as well as FIDA-Kenya, and private mediations. She is an Accredited Trainer for Foundation Mediation Skills of the Strathmore University Dispute Resolution Centre. She has recently been appointed a Board Member of Mediators Beyond Borders International, Chair of the Advisory Board of the newly formed Africa-Asia Mediation Association, and Patron of Kisumu Mediation Centre.  She is a recipient of several international and national awards. These include the Presidential honours of Elder of the Burning Spear (EBS), First Class Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear (CBS), and The Trail Blazer Award (2018), for services rendered to the Kenyan nation.

Dr Sylvie Bebohi Ebongo is a qualified Lawyer in Paris and Cameroon Bars. She is the Co-founder and Partner of HBE Avocats a boutique specialized in business law. She holds a PhD in Private Law. Her Area of practice includes international arbitration, contract law, enforcement and recovery procedures. She acts as counsel, tribunal secretary and sits as arbitrator. She is a member of numerous panels of arbitrators. Sylvie's other role includes acting as research officer at the Association for the promotion of Arbitration in Africa (APAA). She is a member of the ERA pledge, the IBA Africa Arbitration Network and AfricArb. She is one of the winners of the AYA 50 most promising Young Arbitration Practionners awards 2020.