The 5^th anniversary of the Avid Readers’ Forum shimmered on the horizon, a beacon of celebration within the law school community. As the sun dipped beneath the horizon on the late afternoon of 4 October 2024, the Midland Hotel in Nakuru became a vibrant hub of anticipation. Guests, lecturers, and students, all dressed in their finest formal attire, all whites and blues, arrived with beaming smiles and eager hearts, ready to embark on an evening of unforgettable experiences.

On 2 October 2024, the Avid Readers Forum hosted the final webinar in its fifth-anniversary celebration series, focusing on ‘Religion and its Influence on State and Governance’. The lead discussants were Chief Justice Emeritus Willy Mutunga, an Adjunct Lecturer at Kabarak Law School, and Rev Justus Mutuku, Acting Provost at Kabarak University. Ms Adeline Jeptoo, a law student at Kabarak and the president of the Kabarak University Law Students Association moderated the discussion.

Jumuiya: East Africa Community Law Journal (a peer-reviewed periodical of Kabarak Law School) is delighted to have its Co-Editor-in-Chief, Dr Harrison Mbori, and Mrs Emily Osiemo Lumumba, Associate Editor, as part of the litigation team (which also includes Mr. Elisha Ongoya, a Senior Lecturer at Kabarak University) in the first inter-state reference at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ/Court) between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Rwanda. Dr Mbori, Mr Ongoya, and Mrs Lumumba represent the DRC in the suit. The DRC filed the case at EACJ on 23 August 2023 over Rwanda’s alleged continuous military occupation in the Eastern region of DRC.    

The Avid Readers’ Forum hosted the third webinar in a series for its 5^th Anniversary celebrations on Wednesday, 18 September 2024. During the webinar, the effectiveness of constitutional democracy was the centre of discussion, as was the priority conflict between the people’s voice and party politics in Kenya and the remedies available to the people to address these issues.

This year marks the first quinquennial celebrations of the Avid Readers’ Forum at the Kabarak University School of Law. The idea of having formal celebrations to mark five years of the Avid Readers Forum was a brainchild of Mr. Cedric Kadima, a Kabarak University alumnus and a founder member of the Avid Readers’ Forum. It was Mr Kadima whom in the year 2019, I requested to craft a brief concept note that would inform the operationalization of the Avid Readers’ Forum. Judged in the frame of his generation, history will be very kind to Mr Kadima. He was on this occasion, as he has always been, obedient. He crafted the concept note. Five years later, that simple concept note that was barely half a page in length has yielded the grand project that we now call the Avid Readers’ Forum.

In an exciting start to their academic journey, the first-year law students of Kabarak University experienced their first class under the guidance of none other than the renowned Dean, Prof. John Ambani. This introductory class was not just an ordinary lecture—it was an invitation to step into the prestigious world that Kabarak University School of Law has dominated for years.