Supreme Court Judge Mohammed Khadhar Ibrahim, one of Kenya’s most respected jurists and a pioneering figure in the country’s legal community, has died at the age of 69 after a prolonged illness, the Judiciary confirmed on Wednesday December 17, 2025 evening.

Close family sources disclosed that he had been receiving treatment in India before being brought back to Kenya to spend his final days at home.

Born in 1956, Justice Ibrahim belonged to Kenya’s Somali community, a background that profoundly shaped his lifelong commitment to justice and inclusion.

He pursued his legal education at the University of Nairobi, where he earned his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree, and later completed his post-graduate diploma at the Kenya School of Law before entering legal practice.

Immediately after admission to the Roll of Advocates on January 11, 1983, Justice Ibrahim became the first member of the Kenyan-Somali community to qualify as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.

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Trailblazing Advocate and Human Rights Defender

His early career in private practice began at the law firm Waruhiu & Muite Advocates, where he quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a salaried partner in 1985 and a full partner by 1987.

In 1994, he established his own firm, Mohammed Ibrahim & Associates, which later expanded into Ibrahim & Isaack Advocates and built a reputation for handling complex civil and constitutional litigation.

Long before his appointment to the Bench, Justice Ibrahim had earned wide admiration as a defender of human rights and pro-democracy activist.

During Kenya’s struggle for multiparty democracy in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he offered legal counsel to marginalized communities and activists at great personal risk.

His opposition to discriminatory policies, particularly the government’s controversial “pink card” identity system that targeted Somali Kenyans, and his unwavering support for civil liberties led to his detention without trial and solitary confinement in Kamiti Prison in July 1990.

He served as a Council Member of the Law Society of Kenya, contributed to Kituo Cha Sheria, sat on the Board of the Legal Education and Aid Programme (LEAD), and was a founding trustee of the Mwangaza Trust, cementing his reputation as a champion of access to justice and human dignity.

Rise Through the Judiciary

Justice Ibrahim’s transition from an activist lawyer to the Judiciary came in May 2003, when he was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Kenya.

In this capacity, he served with distinction at the Milimani High Court in Nairobi, the Judicial Review and Constitutional Division, the Eldoret High Court, where he oversaw cases across the entire North Rift Valley, and later at the Mombasa High Court.

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Service at the Supreme Court and the JSC

On 16 June 2011, after a competitive national interview process, he was appointed to the inaugural bench of the Supreme Court of Kenya, a historic role in which he was entrusted with interpreting and giving effect to the transformative 2010 Constitution.

Over more than a decade on the Supreme Court, Justice Ibrahim earned a reputation for intellectual rigor, calm impartiality, and fidelity to constitutionalism, particularly in electoral dispute adjudication.

In August 2021, he was appointed Chairperson of the Judiciary Committee on Elections, a position through which he played a critical role in strengthening institutional preparedness for electoral justice.

The following year, in May 2022, his peers unanimously elected him as the Supreme Court representative to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

As a Commissioner for JSC, he consistently championed judicial independence, accountability, transparency, and integrity, helping to reinforce public confidence in the Judiciary during periods of intense scrutiny.

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CJ Martha Koome at previous event. PHOTO/Koome X.