Bernice W. Gachegu
Bernice W. Gachegu is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya having a vast experience in commercial law, with a specialty in company and copyright law. She is also well-versed in insolvency matters and has administered numerous bankruptcies and company liquidations.
Ms. Gachegu worked in the office of the Attorney General in various capacities and rose through the ranks to the position of Registrar General, charged with the responsibility of overseeing the registration of companies, societies, marriages, coat of arms, books and newspapers amongst others. Her position required mastery of a wide range of legislation including the Companies Act, Bankruptcy Act, Marriage Act, and other related laws. During this period, she diligently served the Government and people of Kenya and under her leadership, the Registrar General’s office was transformed as exemplified by noted awards for innovative practice, excellent performance, and improved service delivery in registration matters. In particular, she took the lead in transforming the company’s registry into a customer-focused operation through business process re-engineering and capacity building.
In addition, Ms. Gachegu represented Kenya in various engagements internationally, including the debates on copyright and traditional knowledge at the World Property Organisation (WIPO) headquarters in Geneva. Her involvement in this global discussion led to the formation of the Taskforce on Traditional Knowledge whose mandate was to develop a policy on the protection of traditional knowledge under copyright, making Kenya one of the few African countries to have a policy on the same. Ms. Gachegu chaired the task force on Traditional Knowledge.
Ms. Gachegu’s tenure of over 30 years in public service allowed her to nurture strong leadership and management skills that enabled her to successfully supervise and guide activities of over 150 staff members. Her administrative duties included managing annual budgets of approximately KSh. 20 million and ensuring proper execution of related work plans. Leading by example, she enabled her staff to continually improve their performance and ability to deliver services to the public. Ms. Gachegu’s reputation for upholding the authority of the appointment bestowed by her position inspired confidence in the Office of the Registrar General and its staff. Ms. Gachegu demonstrated a commitment to the values of integrity, equity, fairness, justice, and adherence to rule of law by initiating processes that rendered this office a corruption-free zone and a true embodiment of the principals of servant leadership.
Since her retirement from public service Ms. Gachegu continues to be involved in community service efforts through mentorship activities for young women, involvement in her church membership, and participation in leadership of professional associations including the institute of certified public secretaries (ICS), the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) as well as the Kenya Christian Lawyers’ Fellowship of which she is a founding member. Some of the activities in which she has been involved include speaking engagements around the country as both mentor and expert.
