Court of Appeal Judge Otieno Odek has been found dead in his house in Kisumu.
The family says the judge collapsed and died in the house aged 56.
From January 1996, he acted as a Chief legal consultant and practitioner in his Law Firm Otieno-Odek & Co. Advocates, Nairobi, Kenya.
COURT OF APPEAL Judge Otieno Odek found dead in his house in Kisumu. pic.twitter.com/FBftdBrIEU
— The Star Breaking (@TheStarBreaking) December 16, 2019
Justice Prof Otieno Odek also served as the Chairman of the Paris Union of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva and was the Chairman of Madrid Union of WIPO and Chair of the Berne Executive Committee of WIPO.
He was also the Managing Director of the Kenya Industrial Property Institute from December 2004 to 2012.
In 2012, he was sworn in as a Court of Appeal Judge.
In 2011, Justice Prof Otieno Odek unsuccessfully applied for the position of Supreme Court Judge.
In 1983 to 1984 he was a teacher in Eldoret before joining the University of Nairobi.
Between September 1988 and September 1991, he was an advocate in the firm of R. A. Kassam & co. Advocates, Nairobi.
In 1987 he joined Kenyan School Of Law, Nairobi, Kenya and attained Diploma in Law in 1988.
In 1989 he joined Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A. and in 1989 he attained Master of Laws Degree (LLM).
In 1991 he joined University Of Toronto, Canada and in January 1995 he attained Doctor of Juridical Science (JSD) Degree.
The Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji last year revealed that judge Odek was to testify against his former partner Tom Ojienda.
Ojienda, a senior counsel, was set to be charged with fraud over alleged Sh89m he received as legal fees from Mumias Sugar Company.
In a statement, the DPP said Justice Odek, who was a partner at the firm of Otieno Odek, Tom Ojienda and Wanyama Advocates, was not under investigation in connection with the affairs of the sugar company as reported by the media.
Haji said the judge “provided a statement to investigators of his own volition.”
“Investigations into the matter have concluded and a decision to charge Prof. Tom Ojienda made on the available evidence. Indeed Prof. James Otieno Odek (JA) was not in any way involved in the matters giving rise to the prosecution of Prof. Tom Ojienda and is therefore not criminally culpable,” Haji said.
The DPP was to charge Ojienda with the loss of Sh89m from Mumias Sugar Company.