Njoki Wamai: Difference between revisions

Kenyan academic and peace researcher

Njoki Wamai (also published as E. Njoki Wamai) is a Kenyan Pan-African academic, feminist, and peace and justice researcher. She is known for her work on transitional justice, Afro-feminism, and the politics of accountability in Africa.^[1] She is an Assistant Professor in the International Relations Department at United States International University Africa (USIU-A) in Nairobi.^[2] In 2016, she was awarded the Bill Gates Sr Prize for her leadership and contributions to the Gates Cambridge community.^[3]

Wamai earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Food Science and Technology and a Postgraduate Diploma in Gender and Development from the University of Nairobi.^[1] She later completed a Master’s in Conflict, Security and Development at King’s College London through the African Leadership Centre, graduating with distinction.^[4]

She received her PhD in Politics and International Studies from the University of Cambridge in 2017 as a Gates Cambridge Scholar.^[5] Following her PhD, she pursued postdoctoral research at Cambridge’s Centre for Governance and Human Rights (CGHR).^[6]

Wamai is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the United States International University Africa (USIU-A) in Nairobi, where she teaches and researches on human rights, African politics, and international development.^[7] Her academic work explores the relationship between international legal institutions, such as the International Criminal Court, and local practices of justice in Kenya and other African contexts.^[8]

Her research engages with themes in Women, Peace and Security, African feminism, gender equality, and critical approaches to peacebuilding and knowledge production. She has held roles in civil society organisations, including the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.^[5] She has contributed to national policy frameworks such as Kenya’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.^[8]

She has participated in public discussions and contributed commentary on African politics and justice systems through platforms such as The Conversation, The Elephant, HuffPost, Pambazuka News, and through various broadcast interviews.

Wamai is a board member of the Life & Peace Institute, where she contributes to peacebuilding initiatives across Africa.^[2] She is also an alumna of the African Leadership Centre at King’s College London.^[4]

While at the University of Cambridge, Wamai co-founded the Black Cantabs Research Society, a counter-history initiative that documents the contributions of Black alumni and challenges historical erasure.^[9] Her work with the society is featured on the Black people in Cambridge page, which highlights the experiences and activism of Black students and scholars at the university. She also helped establish the Cambridge Eastern African Society and the African Society of Cambridge University.^[5]

• Wamai, N. (2025). Review of Some of Us Are Brave: Interviews and Conversations with Sistas on Life, Art and Struggle, by Thandisizwe Chimurenga. Gender & Development, 33(1), 279–281. doi:10.1080/13552074.2025.2464475 Gender & Development
• Wamai, N., & Waweru, K. (2024). Regimes and Resistance: Kenya’s Resistance History through Underground and Alternative Publications. Radical History Review, 2024(150), 233–238. doi:10.1215/01636545-11257551 Duke University Press
• Wamai, N. (2023). Kenya, Politics, Economy and Society in 2023. In Africa Yearbook Volume 20. Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004696976_036 Brill
• Parrin, A., Simpson, G., Altiok, A., & Wamai, N. (2022). Youth and Transitional Justice. International Journal of Transitional Justice, 16(1), 1–18. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ijtj/ijac003 Oxford Academic
• Wamai, N. (2022). Kenya, Politics, Economy and Society in 2022. In Africa Yearbook Volume 19. Brill.
• Wamai, N. (2021). Kenya, Politics, Economy and Society in 2021. In Africa Yearbook Volume 18. Brill.
• Wamai, N. (2020). Kenya, Politics, Economy and Society in 2020. In Africa Yearbook Volume 17. Brill.
• Wamai, N. (2020). International Relations and the International Criminal Court. In Cheeseman, N., Kanyinga, K., & Lynch, G. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Kenyan Politics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198815693. Oxford University Press
• Wamai, N. (2017). Peace, Justice and Moving On: Local Political Contestation of the International Criminal Court in Kenya. PhD thesis, University of Cambridge.