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The CLA Africa Hub Public Lecture to mark International Women’s Month 2022 : Dr Fatou Bensouda, a former Prosecutor at the ICC

31st March 2022
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Join the CLA Africa Hub to mark International Women’s Month 2022 with a Public Lecture in this popular series of discourses with eminent jurists from the Hub.

Presenting on this year’s theme of #breakthebias, the Hub are delighted Dr Fatou Bensouda, a former Prosecutor at the ICC, to deliver the Lecture.

DATE : Thursday 31st March

TIME :

12.30 GMT

13.30 BST

14.30  CAT

15.30 pm EAT

Register here

Opening Remarks:

  • Linda Kasonde,  CLA Executive Committee and Vice President of the Africa Hub

Moderator:

Maria Mbeneka, CLA Council Member for Kenya

Speaker:

  • Dr Fatou Bensouda

Vote of thanks:

  • Salieu Taal, President of The Gambia Bar Association and CLA Council member for The Gambia

 

There will be an opportunity for a Q &A with the Panel at the end of the webinar via the chat function.

Biographies

Dr Fatou Bensouda

Linda Kasonde

Linda Kasonde is a legal practitioner based in Lusaka, Zambia. She was admitted to the Zambian Bar in 2001. In April 2019 Linda was elected Vice-President for Africa of the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association, the first Zambian woman to hold that position. In 2021 she also became a member of the Advisory Board of the International Bar Association’s Africa Regional Forum. In 2016 she was elected the first ever female President of the Law Association of Zambia in April 2016, a position that she held until April 2018. Linda obtained an LLB Law Degree from the University of Leicester in England in 2000 and an LLM Law Degree from the University of Cape Town.

Linda is a 2017 recipient of the IE University’s Extraordinary People Inspiring the IE Community (EPIC) Award in the ‘Women Inspiring Women’ category. In December 2016, the prestigious The Africa Report named her as one of the people to watch out for in 2017 in Southern Africa. Also, in December 2016, she was awarded the Zambia Society for Public Administration’s Justice Irene Chirwa Mambilima Distinguished Award in recognition of my contribution to the advancement of public service excellence in Zambia. She is now the Executive director of a Zambian NGO called Chapter One Foundation limited, an organisation that promotes and protects human rights, human rights defenders, constitutionalism, the rule of law and social justice in Zambia. Ms. Kasonde is also the founder of the firm LCK Chambers, a social enterprise that supports the work of Chapter One Foundation.

Maria Mbeneka

Maria Mbeneka is a name Partner of the firm Kimani Kabucho Mbeneka & Company (KKM) Advocates and has been in private practice for the past nineteen years.  She as has extensive experience in Family Law, Conveyancing, Intellectual Property Law and Litigation.

Maria holds a Bachelor of Social Legislation Degree BSL and a Bachelor of Laws Degree from Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Maharashtra-India; She holds a Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law. A trained Mediator, she also holds a certificate from the Mediators Training Institute MTI and is a Certified FIDIC practitioner (Finance, Development Construction Expert).

She has served as a member of the Industrial Property Tribunal a court of first instance in matters industrial designs, patents and other matters

In 2016 -2018 elected as Vice President of the East Africa Law Society (EALS) heading Public Interest/Strategic Litigation Committee litigating at the East African Court in Arusha;

In 2018 -2020 elected as a council member at the Law Society of  Kenya (LSK) Treasurer & General Member Representative; Convener of the ICT/IP Committee which took on Public Interest Litigation such as the NIIMS Petition, the Housing Levy Petition of 2018, consultative and public participation forums on Data Protection among other initiatives.

Currently serving as a Council member of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) representing East Africa and Seychelles;

Member of the Co-operatives Tribunal.

Board member Loisaba Conservancy owned by the Nature Conservancy.

Chairperson and director of Ghetto Radio Limited, a youth powered urban media House started in 2007 to address the urban youth voice easily recognized as the official sheng station in Kenya with a massive listenership.

As the spouse to the Governor of Laikipia County Hon. Ndiritu Muriithi, Maria took to the role of First Lady in 2017 effortlessly. She champions several initiatives within the county around maternal health.

She is the current Chairperson of the County First Ladies Association (Kenya) an organization which draws its membership from the Governors spouses in Kenya. The organization champions various initiatives around health, women and youth enterprise and empowerment. The most popular of the Association’s initiaves are the Menstrual Health Management (MHeM) project and the Empower Cancer Clinics project which has seen the Association successfully  launch and implement Thirteen (13) cancer clinics across Kenya.

Maria is also a volunteer and enjoys giving back to the community; she is a Life member of the Kenya Red Cross Society and serves the society as a member of its Election Grievances Committee;

A mother, wife, daughter and lover of life, Maria is passionate about public service, leadership and mentorship.  You will find her enjoying organic farming as a favourite past time or playing golf. She enjoys football and supports local teams in Laikipia and is Patron of the Emerging Law Firms (ELF) FC.

Maria applies the Motto “Carpe Diem” which is Latin for Seize the Day and says that this is what drives her to achieve and reach for more.

Salieu Taal

Salieu Taal is the Managing Partner of Temple Legal Practitioners a niche corporate legal practice with a diverse clientele in the Gambia and the sub region. Salieu Taal holds an Upper Second Degree in Law from the University of Buckingham and a Masters of Degree in International Relations from the London Centre for International Relations, University of Kent. He is a Barrister at Law of England and Wales of the Honourable Inner Temple and also enrolled as a Solicitor and Barrister of the Supreme Court of the Gambia. Salieu Taal started his career in The Gambia as In-house Counsel and Company Secretary for Guaranty Trust Bank ( Gambia) Limited and built his experience in Banking, Real Estate Sector, Corporate Law and Tech Start-ups. Mr. Taal serves on a number boards in both the private and public sector in The Gambia. Mr. Taal was Board Member of the Gambia Chamber of Commerce as Governance Adviser until recently and is the current chair of Gamworks Agency.

He is passionate about empowering the youth and the under privileged, underserved population of his country. Mr. Taal is the current President of the Bar Association and has been an active member since 2005 having served as Secretary and Vice President in the past. He is very passionate about youth empowerment and mentors a number of start-up entrepreneurs. Mr. Taal is a very active member of Gambia Civil Society and has led a number of coalitions and initiatives promoting good governance, democracy and the rule of law. Mr. Taal is one of the leading promoters of  public interest litigation and  a human rights defender in the Gambia; He has been involved in land mark cases in The Gambia promoting the rule of law and upholding the fundamental rights in the Country. Mr. Taal is a very active member of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU ) for over a decade and was also a member of West African Bar Association ( WABA). He is very well networked in the continent as a Bar leader and very keen on enhancing the participation/representation of the African legal professional associations within the Commonwealth.