On 8 October 2025, the Strathmore Law Review (SLR) paused to celebrate ten years of continuous publication. At the full-day symposium held at Strathmore University, the SLR and its community of friends looked back at the sustained effort, commitment and vision that have carried a student-run, peer-reviewed journal into its second decade. 

The SLR is the official student-run, peer-reviewed academic journal of Strathmore Law School. Established in 2015, the Review provides a platform for rigorous legal scholarship by students, practitioners, and academics across Africa and beyond. With a steady and sole focus on African legal problems, each Volume is curated and edited by students through a meticulous peer-review process, producing work that is intellectually insightful and regionally relevant. Over the past decade, the SLR has grown into an exceptional example of academic excellence within the Strathmore community. To many, the SLR is a space where young legal minds learn the discipline of research, editing, and publication while contributing meaningfully to the development of African legal thought.

And so, to mark the historic nature of surviving a decade, the SLR@10 Symposium was the flagship celebration marking this anniversary. It brought together current and former editors, authors, academic mentors and practitioners in law for a full day of reflection, discussion and connection. The event opened with author presentations drawn from Volume X, followed by panel sessions on themes such as “Running an African Law Review”, “Legal Scholarship in the Age of AI” and “SLR through the Years”. In short, SLR@10 served two distinct but related purposes: a celebration of past achievement, for a decade of consistency in scholarship is no mean feat; and a gathering for forward-looking conversations about the Review’s role in African legal scholarship in the next decade. 

One of the most important themes of the symposium was purpose. The Review has been stubbornly, deliberately African. Being African is a choice reflected in every editorial decision and is deeply quintessential of the SLR. The fact that the table of contents consistently reflects Africa’s jurisdictional diversity, and the fact that mentorship pipelines and partnerships have been built over the years, means SLR has kept its roots visible while growing upward. That rootedness helps explain why the Review has gone from strength to strength.

Another message that carried the day was how the next chapter would look like. Ten years on, the question is no longer whether a student-run law review can survive here – it has. Instead, the conversation turned to how to steward the next decade: refining editorial processes, embracing technological change thoughtfully, and widening author inclusion, all while preserving rigor, and documenting institutional practices so that coming generations can stand at the shoulders of their predecessors lessons.

For Strathmore Law School, the symposium was a moment of pride and commitment. It affirmed that students can run a journal that contributes meaningfully to African legal scholarship, while being professionally serious and globally attuned. It reminded us that a student-led initiative – when backed by institutional belief, assitance, and structure – can become an enduring institution.

Myriad thanks are due: to the authors who submitted their work and trusted SLR as a home for it; to the alumni editors whose footsteps mark the path each new team follows; to the faculty advisors, expert reviewers and university staff whose steady support underwrites the journal’s credibility; and to the readers and practitioners who engage with what we publish and bring it into clinics, courts and classrooms.

In this moment, ten years in, we recognise that longevity and consistency is possible. What we build with care, we ensure endures.

By Mark Lenny Gitau, Zayn Aslam and Peter Muindi