About Us – Africa Continental Legal Network

About Africa Continental Legal Network

Who We Are

ACLN is the African law firm of the future. We are a one stop shop for African legal services. Each member of ACLN is an independent law firm that exists in its jurisdiction and has established competency and repute in commercial law. Members are admitted after a thorough screening process to ascertain integrity, reputation and competence. At ACLN all our member firms are established in their niche areas of specialization.

Meet Our Team

ACLN Team

Dr Cathy Mputhia

Team Head ACLN Kenya

Cathy is an Advocate of the High Court Of Kenya with 18 years post bar admission experience. Cathy was voted as Kenya’s winner of the Women In Law Award ( 2019) an award conferred by The Lawyer Magazine-UK. She is a recipient of an LLD ( Hon Causa) from the LSG as a result of her contribution in intellectual property rights awareness in Kenya and Africa. She has in the past been a globally recommended expert ( GLE expert-Kenya).

Cathy holds an LLD (Hon Causa)-LSG, LLM (University Of Salford), MBA-Strategic Management (JKUAT), LLB (University Of Nairobi). Her areas of specialization are law and strategic management.

A seasoned business law columnist, she has columned for the Business Daily Africa newspaper for the last 15 years. Her column touches on current business law issues in Africa. She has in the past columned for the Nairobi Stock Exchange Magazine and several other publications like Business Monthly.

Cathy is currently the managing Partner of C.Mputhia advocates and has been involved in several cross border briefs. Some include being lead consultant in Drafting Kingdom Of Eswatini Copyright and Collective Management Organization Regulations, lead consultant consultancy on Harmonization EAC Intellectual Property Laws, cross border (international) adoptions, advisory on applicability of Kenyan domestic law in an international arbitration whose seat was London and choice of law was French Law.

For the last ten years Cathy has been a leading advisor on infastrucure projects in Kenya. Her advice includes advisory on environment, land, natural resources and social welfare issues surrounding the donor funded projects. Examples include the construction of Maara and Thwake Dams which were funded by donors.
She is a member of the prestigious International Law Network (ILN) and has been a member of Global Law Experts (GLE). She is a member of the International Trade Council (ITC) and is in partnership with Employee Mobility Solutions ( EMS-Spain) for provision of legal services to expatriates. The services include immigrations, work permits and others. Cathy has been a board member in several public and private institutions. She has been a member of the Africa Investment Bank Capital ( AIB Capital) Board for 5 years. AIB is a company licensed by the Capital Markets Authority ( Kenya) and is a leading stock broker. Cathy has been the chair of Human Resource and Director Nomination committee as well as a member of the Audit & Risk Committee.
Cathy is a current Board Member at Rongo University and has in the past served as Chair of Academic Affairs & Appeals Committee as well as Chair of the Audit Committee. She currently serves in the Human Resource, Fianance & Resource Mobilization Committee. Cathy has served in various bar committees including Young Lawyers Committee, Constitutional Affairs Committee, ICT and Intellectual Property Committee. Globally she has served as Kenya’s representative in the Young Lawyers Committee at the International Bar Association.
She brings in a wealth of cross border experience into ACLN and research on regional and African legal issues. Her expertise includes intellectual property, commercial law, family trusts & estates, property law, environment & natural resources and dispute resolution.

Brendah Mpanga

Team Head ACLN Uganda

Brendah is an advocate of the Courts of Judicature of Uganda, having been admitted to the Bar in 2000. She holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI) Arusha, Tanzania. She is a Graduate Associate with the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, (UK) and a member with (ICSA) Uganda Chapter. She holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree from Makerere University, and a Diploma in Legal Practice (Dip LP) from the Law Development Centre. She is an alumnus of the prestigious CEO Apprenticeship, associated with Strathmore University, based in Kenya.

She is the Founder and Managing Partner at BNM Advocates, a full legal service firm. Her specialty is in Corporate, Commercial Transaction & Corporate Governance advisory. Previously, she worked as the Head Legal & Company Secretary at Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited, where, she also served as a Trustee for the Staff Retirement Benefit Scheme and served as a Board member at the Institute of Corporate Governance of Uganda for a period of two years. Before joining the Bank, she worked as a legal advisor with the Uganda Law Reform Commission and also served in various capacities within the Civil Society Organizations on the Rule of Law.

Internationally, she was one of the founder members for the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), the African Bar Association that brings African lawyers together for promotion of Rule of Law based in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.

She is associated with Thomson Reuters Foundation, a global network of lawyers that supports Impact Investments. She is a member of the International Lawyers Network (ILN), and one of the Founders of the African Continental Legal Network (ACLN). She served as a Non-Executive Director at Pearl Capital Partners Limited, as Vice Chairman of Uganda Biodiversity Trust Fund, as the Vice Chairman at Uganda Technology and Management University and a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Board at Top Finance Bank Limited, a Tier 2 Financial Institution. She is a member of the Uganda Law Society and the female lawyers committee of the East Africa Law Society. She has advised different Corporate entities within the Financial Services Sector, Education, Energy, Health and Telecommunications on Legal and Corporate Governance matters over the past 20 years.