The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Kenya Chapter hosted the first ever Pan-African, ICC Commercial Mediation Moot Competition that kicked off on 31st October 2022 at the Africa Nazarene University.

Kabarak University emerged as the overall winner, beating Strathmore University in the finals of the three-day event. Kabarak University will now represent Kenya at the International ICC Moot Competition, scheduled for February 2023 in Paris, France during the ICC Mediation Week and which is ICC's largest educational event of the year.

Africa Nazarene University and the University of Nairobi took third and fourth positions respectively. Other participating universities included the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology and Daystar University.

"Only universities that have Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), as part of their curriculum can participate in the moot competition," said SC Gordon Ogola, Senior Managing Partner at Gordon Ogola Kipkoech Advocates who was the Chief Judge of the competition.

Kenya is the first African Country to host the Pan-African ICC Commercial Mediation Moot Competition with a vision to hold Africa-wide moot competitions with the winners proceeding to the annual international ICC mediation moot competitions.

"Over the years Africa has registered the least turnout of university entries in the ICC Mediation Moot Competition and which gave rise to the Pan-African ICC Mediation Moot Competition to promote Mediation and use of The ICC Mediation Rules 2021 among undergraduate Bachelor of Law (LLB) students," explained Ogola.

Aside from supporting the increased use of ADR as a form of settling disputes in the continent, the Pan African ICC Commercial Mediation Moot Competition also aims to impart first-hand knowledge and experience to enhance the mediation and oratory skills of the students.

Dr Duncan Ojwang, Dean School of law at Africa Nazarene University encouraged law students to take advantage of experiential learning through real-life practice and exploration of case studies as may be presented by moot competitions.

During the competition, the students competed to resolve international business disputes, guided by over thirty professional mediators under the ICC mediation rules and their performance was evaluated by leading dispute-resolution specialists including James Magerere, founder of the Mediation Training Institute East Africa and Caroline Kendagor, Deputy Registrar Court Annex Mediation among others.

Speaking during the closing ceremony, Kendagor said the adoption of ADR and mediation in Kenya's legal justice system was part of the fulfilment of the ideals of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 regarding access to justice not only in the number of cases adjudicated and concluded but also regarding the quality of mediation settlements.

"Litigation as a means of dispute settlement is often fraught with many fragmented issues that can cause a delay in resolution of cases, for example where judgement has been entered on paper but which then cannot be executed due to one challenge or another. We are now actively encouraging ADR as an avenue that promotes the principle of self-determination in resolving disputes where parties actively engage to achieve a mutual result thereby avoiding the tedious and expensive court process," she said.

Domiciled at KEPSA, ICC Kenya Chapter now hopes to use the Commercial Mediation Moot Competition to increase Africa's participation in the main ICC Mediation Moot Competitions while promoting the use of ADR and mediation among young legal practitioners across the continent.

The competition followed the second International Conference on Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) that was hosted by ICC Kenya Chapter in September 2022 which discussed emerging trends in ADR and arbitration in Africa.