“My proudest accomplishment is becoming the woman that the nine-year-old me envisioned, and further creating a mentorship platform for young girls with big dreams,” starts 30-year-old Samantha Mukoya Masengeli. Samantha wears many hats. She is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya with five years of post-admission experience, the Administrative Partner at Ngeresa, Masengeli & Lungwe Advocates (NML Advocates LLP) and an arbitrator with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Kenya and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators London.
“I am also a member of the African Arbitration Association and the Young African Arbitration Association and alongside my colleague, Herman Omiti, an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, we represent the East Africa Region. I am also a farmer. I practice cash crop farming of maize, beans, and vegetables. I also do fish and poultry farming,” she adds with a chuckle.
“I grew up in Mumias sub-county where I attended St. Anne’s Primary School. My parents later moved to Kimilili, Bungoma County where I joined Lugulu Girls High School for my secondary school education. After that, I joined Moi University in Eldoret where I pursued a Bachelor of Law degree and graduated in 2015,” she says.
After her graduation, she transitioned to the Kenya School of Law (KSL) in 2016 for her post-university diploma in law and was admitted to the Bar in June 2018.
“While in university I was an intern at a firm in Eldoret. After graduating, I went for another internship at the County Government of Kakamega as I waited to join KSL. In 2018, after my pupillage and admission to the Bar, I joined the firm of Ngeresa and Okallo Associates Advocates as a partner, and the company later became NML Advocates LLP.”
Her area of practice is family law and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The latter, she says, was shaped by her pupillage time at the law firm where she practiced ADR with a bias for arbitration.
“After my pupilage, I realised how easy and favourable ADR methods were, not only in resolving conflict but also in maintaining relationships, in a way that is different from the other court processes”.
“In family law, I mostly deal with surrogacy and adoption laws. I draft agreements for surrogacy between surrogates and intending parents and further advise both parties on their rights and responsibilities. I then enable my clients to create families through legal adoption of children and this has been so fulfilling,” she proudly notes.
She attributes her career growth to her personal experiences when it comes to matters of Reproductive Health especially in women.
“I have had the privilege of being mentored by amazing women in the legal industry such as Lilian Ngeresa, Enricah Dulo and Ayieta Lumbasyo, just to mention but a few. Attending seminars, webinars and conferences on the areas I have an interest in has also helped me grow in my career.”
On her leadership style, Ms Samantha describes herself as a democratic leader. Also often referred to as ‘the King Arthur and Knights of Camelot round table’ method, she explains that this kind of leadership is where everyone is assigned a role to play, but at the same time, all the relevant parties contribute to the growth of the business or achievement of a goal.
“In this method, all ideas, thoughts, and opinions are welcome, appreciated, and considered.”
Her greatest lesson, she says, is patience.
“To me, patience translates to concentrating on my short-term goals as I work on achieving my long-term goals. I have so many goals, both short and long term that I intend to achieve. Patience has enabled me to grow into a wholesome person. As I chase my dreams, I get to pick up values such as resilience, humility, experience, insight, grace, and kindness. These are my key guiding virtues in life.”
Samantha adds that if she could take back the hand of time, there is nothing she would change. She believes that every experience she has gone through has shaped her into the woman that she is today.
“I have learnt to appreciate both the positive and negative aspects of life that come my way, and take them as learning curves,” she intimates.
Her advice to the youth is that they should take their time and avoid rushing through life despite the pressure to do so. She counsels them to explore as many ventures or opportunities that come their way and not to settle for the traditional or comfortable path.
“Young people should know that they have so much potential within them, but this can only be realised if they put in work.”
“When all is said and done, these are the people that keep me grounded, they influence my purpose and fuel my success. I often check up on them and chat with them while finding ways to make their lives a little bit sunnier,” she says.
A self-proclaimed plant and flowers lover, Ms Samantha says she has an entire forest on her balcony that she spends her weekends tending to. She is always out experiencing new and different types of flowers and flower arrangements. She also loves traveling.
For her future career plans, she is focused on building a law firm that provides both in and out-of-court dispute resolution alternatives for her clients.
“I also have a huge passion for Alternative Reproductive Technology, and I look forward to being one of the pioneers of creating laws that provide for and regulate the same,” she concludes.
