Nora Mbagathi, the 38-year-old executive director of Katiba Institute, has known many homes.
Born in Nairobi to a Kenyan father and a German mother, Mbagathi has lived in Berlin, Cairo, Washington DC, London and Nairobi—cities she proudly calls home.
But over the years, she has discovered another ‘heimat’ (German for homeland or home) altogether: Kenya’s Constitution.
Since taking the helm of Katiba Institute, a non-profit promoting constitutionalism, in November 2024, Mbagathi has emerged as one of the country’s most influential constitutional litigators.
Under her leadership, the institute has successfully challenged, among others, the creation of unconstitutional offices of presidential advisers, secured a court-supervised deletion of biometric data unlawfully collected by Worldcoin, and questioned the establishment of a US-funded Ebola quarantine facility over constitutional compliance.
“We use the courts not to fight political battles but to ensure that the Constitution remains the country’s ultimate safeguard. Our cause of action is the Kenyan Constitution,” she says.
"We use the courts not to fight political battles but to ensure that the Constitution remains the country’s ultimate safeguard. Our cause of action is the Kenyan Constitution"
If there is one label that fits Mbagathi comfortably, it is that of a citizen of humanity.
Her life has unfolded across continents, cultures and legal systems, giving her an uncommon ability to see constitutional questions through both local and global lenses.
She spent her childhood in Nairobi before moving to Berlin at the age of eight, where she lived until she was 19.
From there, she headed to Cairo, Egypt, intending to stay for only a year. One year turned into several, before life and work later took her to London and Washington, D.C., each city adding another layer to her worldview.
“Family is Heimat. I believe wherever I am, the people are the Heimat,” she said in a past interview.
Rather than pursue the more lucrative path of corporate legal practice, Mbagathi chose public interest litigation and civil society.
A solicitor of England and Wales and a member of the New York Bar, she has built a career at the intersection of technology, human rights and constitutional law, specialising in equality, non-discrimination, counterterrorism abuses and death penalty mitigation.
Before taking over at Katiba Institute, she worked with the Open Society Justice Initiative and the UK-based charity Reprieve. She holds a Juris Doctor from George Washington University Law School and a Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics.
This is perhaps the greatest lesson she has learnt: “Protect your own space, trust the people around you and create room for others to shine.”
–Ndugu Abisai