Mr Juvenal Shiundu, the first Kenyan Naval Architect (also first African in East, Central and Southern Africa), is the Chairman of the Kenya National Shipping Line Limited. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK in 1983 and with a Masters’ degree in Maritime Safety Administration (Marine Engineering) from the World Maritime University, Sweden, in 1986. He is an alumni of the Ashridge Business School, UK and has attended many senior management and Leadership development courses worldwide.
Mr Shiundu retired from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in December 2019 as the Director of the Technical Cooperation Division, having served in various senior roles for more than 22 years at its London Headquarters. He was previously responsible for programme management, coordination of the Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP) and UN matters related to Technical Cooperation, Blue Economy and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He actively participated in all the preparatory meetings leading to Rio+20 as well as in the main Conference held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012 and the 2017 United Nations Oceans Conference in New York.
In 2015, Mr Shiundu was nominated by the Kenyan Government and endorsed by the African Union as the African Candidate for the post of Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization but narrowly lost to Mr Kitack Lim from the Republic of Korea.
From 1999 to 2010, Mr Shiundu was the Head, Africa Section at IMO. One of his major achievements was organizing and negotiating Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with three host Governments that led to the opening of the first three IMO Regional Presence Offices in Africa covering 47 countries as part of a pilot project before it was extended to Asia and the Caribbean regions. He worked closely and maintained contacts with the Ministries responsible for Transport, Maritime Administrations, the Port Management Associations and related regional organizations in Africa. In this role, he was instrumental in the establishment of fifteen autonomous maritime administrations in Africa, including the Kenya Maritime Authority.
Prior to joining IMO in 1997, Mr Shiundu was the General Manager of African Marine and General Engineering Company Limited, Mombasa, the largest Shipyard on the East African Coast where he rose through the ranks in the shipbuilding and ship repairing industry. He previously worked for Kenya Ports Authority as Assistant Merchant Shipping Superintendent. Between 1990 and 1996, he was also a registered consultant in the maritime sector to a number of UN agencies as well as the World Bank. He carried out a number of field mission projects in different African countries to assess, advice, inter alia, on physical facilities, concessioning, privatization and financing, training and Regulatory aspects.
Juvenal Shiundu is an excellent communicator, negotiator and strategic thinker who has authored and contributed to numerous articles and publications, and resourced and moderated at many international conferences and seminars. He has also appeared as a key Expert Witness to a number of formal and Presidential Commissions of Inquiries and in courts involving maritime accidents including the ferry MTONGWE in Mombasa. He has over 35 years international experience with extensive training in all aspects of ports, rail, shipping and transport sectors, managing and implementing development cooperation programmes and working with the UN system and the Donor Constituency. He initiated and formulated the concept paper and action plan for the (Railway line, Oil refinery, Oil pipeline, Lamu as Free Port) ROOLA project which later became known as the LAPSSET. He is featured in the Kenyan book “Life Journeys: Scaling Heights – Conversations with High Achieving Men in Kenya”, Footprints Press, 2011 and contributed the maritime feature in the book “50 Years since Independence: Where is Kenya”, 2013.
He is the Deputy Chairman of The Kenya Society (UK), Past President of the Rotary Club of Westminster West (London) and a member of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners, the Maritime Operations and Management (MOaM) MSc Advisory Group of the City of London University and the Kenya Coast National Polytechnic East Africa Skills for Transformation & Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP) Advisory Board. He retired as a Trustee of the Apostleship of the Sea (Great Britain) in April 2018 after servicing on the Board for nine years and received Apostolic Blessing from the Holy Father Pope Francis for his services. He previously served on the Board of Governors of the World Maritime University (Sweden) and the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (Malta). In December 2019, Mr Shiundu received the Freedom of the City of London Award in recognition of his services to international Diplomacy and Charitable causes.