Philip Murgor’s Illustrious Career: From Defending President Moi to Being Appointed by Kibaki

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Philip Murgor’s Illustrious Career: From Defending President Moi to Being Appointed by Kibaki

PHILIP MURGOR 

Philip Murgor is a Kenyan lawyer and Senior Counsel with a career spanning over four decades in both public service and private practice, who recently assumed the leadership of the Senior Counsel Bar.

He was born on the 4th of July 1961 at Iten District Hospital to Christine Chebor, a nurse, in Elgeyo-Marakwet District in Kenya.

His father, Charles Murgor, was employed by the colonial administration as a District Officer.

Murgor spent his formative school years in Kiambu town, Central Province, and Kisumu town, Nyanza Province.

His father, Charles, retired as a Provincial Commissioner in 1969, and the family moved to Eldoret in present-day Uasin Gishu County.

Educational Background

In 1981, he enrolled at the University of Nairobi for his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree, and after graduating in 1985, he enrolled at the Kenya School of Law for his postgraduate Diploma in Law while undertaking his pupillage at Hamilton Harrison and Matthews.

During the abortive coup d’état by the Kenya Air Force in 1982, Murgor and a couple of his classmates were arrested and charged with being sympathetic to the coup and demonstrating seditious intentions.

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Murgor and his classmates were incarcerated to await trial under the authority of the then Attorney General of Kenya, Joseph Kamere.

He spent several months in prison before the incoming Attorney-General Matthew Guy-Muli dropped all charges against Philip and his classmates due to a lack of evidence. He served as the Attorney General of Kenya between 1983 and 1991.

The senior counsel went on to finalize his Bachelor of Laws with Honors and thereafter, his postgraduate diploma program at the Kenya School of Law.

While at the School of Law in 1986, he was selected, among seven others, to participate in an American student exchange program, where he had the opportunity to intern at the Superior Court of the United States in Washington DC.

In 2008, he returned to his alma mater, the University of Nairobi, to pursue a Master of Laws (LLM) in International Trade and Investments Law, from which he graduated with Honors in 2011.

Philip Murgor’s Early Career

1. State Service, between 1986 and 1992 

After being admitted to the Bar in 1986, Murgor declined a lucrative private sector offer to join the State Law Office as a State Counsel.

He was initially posted to Kisumu before being transferred to Nairobi in 1992 by the then Chief Public Prosecutor, Bernard Chunga.

Despite being detained in 1982 for alleged involvement in a failed coup, he served on the legal team that defended President Daniel Arap Moi in the 1992 election petitions. 

2. Director of Public Prosecutions, from 2003 to 2005 

In 2003, the esteemed lawyer was appointed to the position of DPP by President Mwai Kibaki, with a mandate to reform a corrupt office. 

While here, he professionalized the office by replacing police prosecutors with legally trained advocates and established the first National Prosecution Policy.

However, his tenure was cut short in 2005 after he faced internal resistance while attempting to prosecute high-level corruption cases, including the Anglo-Leasing and $80 million cocaine trafficking scandals. 

3. Private Practice and Elite Leadership, 2006-Present

He is the Managing Partner of his firm, Murgor & Murgor Advocates, which he co-founded with his wife, Justice Agnes Murgor.

He has represented the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) in efforts to recover funds from the Goldenberg Scandal and the Imperial Bank collapse, totaling KSh 45 billion.

In August 2025, he was elected Chairperson of the Senior Counsel Bar, succeeding Fred Ojiambo to lead Kenya’s most elite group of advocates. 

Achievements

In August 2025, Murgor was elected to lead the Senior Counsel Bar, which is the highest professional body for advocates in Kenya.

Under his leadership in December 2025, the Senior Counsel committee recommended 54 advocates for conferment.

Murgor is credited with the modern professionalization of the DPP’s office, the development of the first National Prosecution Policy, and securing significant donor funding (USAID) to move the department to modern, equipped premises.

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He created dedicated units for grand corruption, money laundering, and terrorism, shifting prosecution duties from police to qualified lawyers. 

The legal practitioner successfully overturned discriminatory rules against women at the Limuru Country Club, which set a precedent for fundamental rights in private institutions.

In the 2022 Presidential Petition, he played a key role in the Raila Odinga legal team, specifically heading the IT department for the Supreme Court petition. 

In 2011, Philip Murgor became the 10th Kenyan lawyer ever admitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) list of counsel.

As Chairman of WildlifeDirect, he participated in the historic 2016 destruction of 105 tonnes of ivory, a global conservation milestone. 

Family Background

Murgor is married to Lady Justice Agnes K. Murgor, a Judge of the Court of Appeal.

They met in 1986 while interning at the Superior Court in Washington D.C and got married in 1990.

The couple has three children, two daughters and one son, with their eldest daughter also being a lawyer, continuing the family’s legal legacy.

In 2021, Murgor represented his nieces, Cheryll and Stephanie Murgor, in a high-profile legal dispute involving the Ndichu twins.

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This post Philip Murgor’s Illustrious Career: From Defending President Moi to Being Appointed by Kibaki first appeared on The Kenya Times ~ Trending, Breaking News and Videos and is written by Immaculate Ndinda