School of Law launches Daystar Media Moot Court Competition

Hon. Martha karua on the left poses for a photo with one of the participants together with Prof. Kivutha Kibwana on the right during the awarding ceremony held at Crowne Plaza Hotel.

By Timothy Oiro

[Athi River: October 7, 2025] The Daystar University School of Law (DUSOL) hosted its inaugural Daystar Media Moot Court Competition (DMMCC), at Daystar University Main Campus Athi River, from October 7 - 8, 2025.

The event brought together mooters from 14 top universities from across Kenya to showcase their legal acumen and hone their legal skills. The 14 included Africa Nazarene University, Catholic University of East Africa, Chuka University, Egerton University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (Karen Campus), Kenyatta University (Parklands Campus), Kisii University, Strathmore University, University of Nairobi (Parklands Campus), Maseno University, Mount Kenya University (Parklands Campus), Riara University, University of Embu, and the host Daystar University.

The moot court competition whose objectives focused on media law, intellectual property rights and communication, ran under the theme: “Protecting the protest through freedom of expression.”

In his opening remarks, co-chair of the DMMC competition, Mr. Caleb Mutisya Mutie, acknowledged the lives of young people lost during the 2024 GenZ protests in Kenya, among them that of Eric Shieni, a 27-year old student.  Co-chairing the DMMCC with him was Ms. Yvon Kendi, also a DUSOL student.

Mr. Mutie further noted that everyone had a right to freedom of expression and to protest.   “The right to speak is the right to be human” he observed, adding that DMMCC was a memorial to the struggle of both men and women.

The DMMC patron Dr. Erneo Nyamboga noted that the inaugural competition was not just a mere competition but the convergence of passion, intellect and purpose. Dr. Nyamboga encouraged the mooters to sharpen their arguments boldly, listen deeply, and honor the spirit of the law, stating that the legal profession must rise to protect speech. He concluded his remarks by urging the competitors to be catalysts of civic engagements and not just competitors.

The Dean of the School of Law, Dr. Maurice Ajwang Owuor, welcomed the esteemed guests present at the event, key among them the Ag. DVC-ARSA Prof. Samuel Muriithi, Mr. Victor Bwire from the Media Council of Kenya.

Dr. Maurice Owuor noted that despite being at its nascent stage, the Daystar University School of Law (DUSOL) had great potential, with the Daystar Media Moot Competition coming as a true reflection of this. He observed that DUSOL took mooting seriously as an integral part of Continuous Assessment Testing and the Problem Based Learning pedagogy. Citing John Locke’s three basic rights to life, liberty and property, Dr. Owuor asserted that both the fundamental and freedom rights are so intertwined that protest is an expression in itself such that the State cannot take away those rights. He encouraged the participants to embrace moot competitions to improve their knowledge and oration skills.

Mr. Victor Bwire affirmed that the Media Council of Kenya was ready to continuously offer support through lecture talks and internship for Daystar University students.  “We are willing to give guest lectures on media regulation,” he said, further stating that the media had evolved over the years with the emergence of new concepts such as technology which has changed the trajectory of media practice.  He urged media and legal practitioners not to confuse between code of ethics and code of conduct in the industry.

The Ag. DVC ARSA Prof. Samuel Muriithi appreciated the objectives of the Daystar Media Moot Court Competition, set out as to provide high quality legal education platform, to equip students with legal research skills, to advocate for freedom of expression, and to cultivate a strong network of legal practitioner.

He encouraged collaborative efforts between institutions, the government and communities to ensure the youth can innovatively hold peaceful protests.

The competitors based their argument on a hypothetical case in the East Pandarian Court of Justice in the matter concerning an alleged treaty and human rights violations between the Kingdom of Rahada as the 1st petitioner and the republic of Zangi as the respondent.  The Republic of Zangi was accused of violating the right to freedom of expression through acts of internet shutdown, right to assemble through banning of protests, police brutality which led to the killing of civilians and journalists, deployment of military, abduction of civilians such Mwengi, a renown human rights activist, data privacy violation through forcibly collecting DNA, and biometric data for abducted persons without their consent.  

The applicants petitioned that freedom of expression is a fundamental right and through acts such as internet shutdown, use of water cannons and shooting of protestors, thereby contravening binding international conventions for both treaties. The respondents argued that the applicants based their arguments on mere speculation and that state of Zangi were within the confines of the law, citing that the issue passed the legality test since it was an issue of national security.

One of the outstanding  presentations was the final round between African Nazarene University as the Applicants and JKUAT Karen Campus as the respondent where the applicants argued that the Republic of Zangi violated the rights of its citizens through invasion of their privacy and limiting their rights to freedom of expression, asserting that the respondent failed the legitimate test in limiting the right, hence lacking sufficient evidence. For the respondent, the Counsel argued that the actions taken by the Republic of Zangi concerned national security and that deployment of the military was warranted in order to bring public order.

At the zenith of the competition, the event retreated to a dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which was graced by Hon. Martha Karua, an Advocate of the High Court and former Member of Parliament for Gichugu Constituency, as the Chief Guest.  School of Law faculty present included Prof. Kivutha Kibwana and Dr. Erneo Nyamboga, Senior Lecturer and Head of Department for Public Law at DUSOL.

Referring to Article 19 of the Kenyan Constitution, Chapter 4 on the Bill of Rights, Hon. Martha Karua underscored the importance of striking a balance between public protests and the State.  She observed that human rights serve to preserve the dignity of human beings, and that the violation rights impedes citizens from thriving and realizing their potential.  She argued that in striking this balance the State must ensure that the rights of others are not violated. She further committed to be a good example to others by laying a foundation for other upcoming young leaders, stating that leadership is value-driven, not based on ownership. Hon. Karua congratulated all the mooters, stressing that articulation in the legal career is a skill trait based on the facts and laws of the circumstances.

Prov. Kivutha Kibwana lauded the Moot Court coordinator Mr. Ayub Okayo for his proactive role in making the event a success.  He also congratulated all the mooters, encouraging them that mooting was not a waste of time,  but rather a platform for them to professionally develop their legal careers.

The event culminated with an awards ceremony to the best participants. The best oralist award went to Isaac Kimeu from the University of Nairobi under the Male Category and Joy Kananu from Chuka University took the Female Category.  The best research category was won by Seanice Brianna from Maseno University while the best team overall went to Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, African Nazarene University and Strathmore University in that order.  The overall champions award went to the duo team comprising Nathan Mwanja and Hanna Wanjiku from JKUAT School of Law, Karen Campus.

The inaugural DMMCC was supported by Amnesty International, Data Privacy and Governance Society, Article 19, Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), Munyao, Muthama & Kashindi (MMK), the International Committee of Jurists (ICJ), TripleOK Law Advocates, Journalism Students Association of Kenya (JSAK), Media Council of Kenya (MCK), FCK Legal, Siasa Place, Kenya Law, and Council for Media Research (MCR) Africa.

The competition was inspired by the Nairobi GenZ protests against the Finance Bill of June 2024.  The peaceful protests were countered with forceful police brutality, leading to killings of civilians and journalists out to exercise their fundamental rights as enshrined in the Kenya Constitution. Article 37 of the Kenya Constitution (2010) states that “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of peaceful assembly without arms, with the prior notification or approval of public authority.”

We congratulate all mooters who took part in the inaugural Daystar Media Moot Court Competition. The DMMCC is committed to cultivating a culture of critical thinking, legal research and advocacy skills among law students while tackling emerging issues in Media Law, Communication Law, Technology Law, Intellectual Property Law, and Data and Privacy Law.


Hon. Martha Karua and Dean School of Law Dr. Maurice Owuor Ajwang presents a dummy cheque to the overall Champions JKUAT School of Law(Karen Campus).