Senior Counsel Pheroze Nowrojee at a past function. He died on April 5, 2025.
I am writing this, while pulled by pain, to honour the extraordinary legacy of Pheroze Nowrojee, who has just left us after having lived a heroic life devoted entirely to fighting oppression and the routine denial of numerous basic rights to Kenyans.
At the same time, as virtually every one of the scores of published tributes have highlighted, Pheroze also somehow made time to support and mentor hundreds of younger folk, who will now carry on the work he was devoted to.
Thankfully, Pheroze was not alone in our halls of justice — which can easily be called halls of injustice for the less fortunate. Kenya has been gifted to an unsurpassed extent for a smallish nation in having produced dozens of intellectually-gifted lawyers and jurists who fought for people’s rights and became household names and won international renown.
Senior Counsel Pheroze Nowrojee making an address at Supreme Court of Kenya ,CJ's Garden on November 19,2015 during the launch of Judiciary Strategic Plan,JSC Charter and other policies.
But Pheroze easily towered over all the others for the longevity of his committed and principled steadfastness that never once wavered. Most of the other outstanding legal luminaries Kenya produced either moved on to more remunerative practices, or used the renown they established as people’s defenders for political, or more self-interested, ends.
Law is the pivotal component for progress in society. Freedom fighting leaders and the masses of men and women who create and rise with them are paramount in determining positive outcomes and the fate of a nation. But not far behind are lawyers and jurists, who risk everything to use the law to mobilise support for peaceful change against those that use raw power to entrench oppression.
Few nations fighting for freedom before and after independence are as blessed as Kenya to have produced an extraordinary number of courageous and intellectually-gifted lawyers who fought for change or represented freedom fighters and became beloved household names. Among the best-known fighters for change who started before independence were D. N. Nene, Argwings-Kodhek, Jean Marie Seroney, Fitz de Souza, Achroo Kapila and Sharad Rao.
They were followed after independence by a new torrent of fighters as the new state started cracking down on constitutional freedoms, including John Khaminwa, Paul Muite, Oki Ooko Ombaka, Makau Mutua, Kiraitu Murungi, the two Marthas — Karua and Koome, Mumbi Ngugi, Willy Mutunga and Gitobu Imanyara among dozens of others. But none equalled Pheroze’s steadfastness and fighting spirit from beginning to end. Former Chief Justice Maraga added himself to this group by his historic annulment of the 2017 presidential election, and by refusing to accept a Legislature without the required gender balance. And, of course, no list would be complete without the incomparable Yash Pal Ghai.
Lawyer Pheroze Nowrojee who was representing Mr Raila Odinga at the Supreme Court.
As Raila Odinga said in his tribute, “for as long as Kenyans have fought for their civil, political liberties and freedoms, Senior Counsel Pheroze Nowrojee has been there, steadfast, and unbowed as the People's Attorney. His thoughts and footprints are in every milestone we have attained as a country, including the Constitution of 2010. His passing marks the end of a historic era and leaves a gap that will be almost impossible to fill.”
Betty Kaari Murungi also made a similar point — that Pheroze’s shoes will be virtually impossible to fill. But what is even sadder is that there are few notables in our top legal ranks who are even thinking of filling those shoes. Societies no longer emphasise service and sacrifice as the key to progress; the growing hegemony of the neo-liberal order emphasises acquisition over all else.
So this tribute to Pheroze needs to be much more than an account of his greatness and sustained courage, and the astounding range of his multi-faceted engagements with every segment of struggling society. To do justice to his achievements and to his constant search for analysis and solutions, we must interrogate both the practice of law and the goals and values of society, which are foundational to equitable, just and harmonious social relations and peace.
For example, it is obvious that even the successful pro-people model that Pheroze developed to fight injustice is not capable of arresting poverty, oppression and violent conflicts and wars that are the root causes of the ills Pheroze and so many others fought against. Indeed, as Pheroze explained himself in a lengthy KBC interview two years ago, he recognised the limitations of his efforts and decided to join a political party in 1992 to better address the issues that perpetuate most of our ills.
But let me continue with Pheroze’s exceptional life, which I cannot imagine could have been more beautifully lived in this world. In addition to being showered with accolades, he and Villoo were first devoted to their parents’ welfare and subsequently raised three exceptionally talented and accomplished children.
Pheroze’s life was spent, from beginning to the end at age 85, with service to humanity, later especially to youth, till literally his last few days. A peek into his life at an event on March 14, just days before he travelled to the US and left us forever, will yield clues to why he was so loved.
Pheroze that day was the honoured guest at the Mathare Social Justice Centre, which is run by a group of immensely committed and knowledgeable folk who till recently were youth. Founded in 2013 on soil consecrated by the blood of Mau Mau freedom fighters and whose founding projects included taking on the extra-judicial killings of young Mathare residents and also the intimidation of decades-old squatters, to make way for land grabbers. Pheroze, an early supporter and mentor, was deeply loved by this dynamic group for his thoughtful advice on these extremely sensitive subjects.
Pheroze was accompanied to the centre by his great friend and patriot, Prof Kamoji Wachira, visiting from Canada, and escorted among others by Gacheke Gachihi, the centre’s dynamic coordinator, who is one of the many unsung heroes who would also be a national treasure in any enlightened society. Pheroze must have felt deeply moved by the love and appreciation that surrounded him throughout his stay.
To come back to Pheroze’s history, I only discovered from the scores of articles I read these last three days that his family’s early history was almost identical to mine! His paternal grandfather, like mine, came over from India as an engine driver around the same time. Both being very senior, both were laid off in 1932 as the result of the Great Depression, and were forced to return to India. However, both families managed to return. My father, then 11-years-old, recounted how he pleaded with his father to accept lower pay so they could stay on in Moshi as he dearly loved Mt Kilimanjaro, but was told “he was too young to understand.”
Senior Counsel Pheroze Nowrojee representing Telkom Kenya employees who were retrenched appeared in court on the 9th of July 2013 for the hearing of an appeal by Telkom against a high court ruling that awarded its retrenched employees 3 billion Kenya Shillings.
Pheroze’s father, Eruch, a lawyer, was opposed to tyranny and inequality, as was mine, who was a teacher and was punished while at the Duke of Gloucester School for trying to organise teachers. Not surprisingly, both Pheroze and I joined the struggle against injustice, I was a journalist. But like him, I was also a teacher at City High School first!
Pheroze was only 11 or 12 years old when he saw close-up the horrors experienced by Kenyans in the so-called colonial justice system. His father had agreed to defend Mau Mau detainees accused in the Lari Massacre and Pheroze accompanied him to court. There were 70 of the accused in one room, being collectively tried. But for his father, they stood no chance. Pheroze resolved then to become a lawyer himself.
I met Pheroze for the first time in 1970. I needed legal advice and went to see the renowned freedom fighter Achroo Kapila, a family friend who had helped Dennis Pritt defend the Kapenguria Six freedom fighters, including Jomo Kenyatta. Mr Kapila told me his associate Pheroze Nowrojee was best for my particular issue. I assumed he was trying to brush me off but even if he was, I had been introduced to a master legal mind!
Indeed, so precocious was Pheroze that he was elected head of the Law Society of Kenya after having been a member of the bar for just one year! That record will never be broken. The next youngest LSK head was Mutula Kilonzo, who like Simani Sangale, was elected seven years after being admitted to the bar. The average period is about 15 years.
Over the years, my wife and I occasionally visit what was their legendary family home near Nairobi Hospital, where so many young progressives congregated without invitation and were treated to his mother’s renowned hospitality. As it subsequently turned out, our older son Samir and Elchi became classmates at St Mary’s School and then Samir and their daughter Sia attended the twinned Bryn Mawr and Haverford colleges.
To conclude, let me once again urge that our media carry profiles of great people while they are still with us. This practice of waiting for someone to pass on before we pay tribute does not make sense. As time goes on, I find myself writing many such tributes and I always feel we should have alerted the departed to the recognition and affection they enjoy so they could savour it during their lifetime.
Salim Lone was Spokesman for Mr Raila Odinga, one-time Prime Minister of Kenya and opposition leader (2005-2013), and Director of Communications and Spokesman at the United Nations (1997-2003).
