Leading African law firm, Bowmans, has started the year on a positive note by making eight senior appointments across its geographical footprint.
 
These include Johannesburg based partners Daniel Pretorius, Heather Manson and Mogola Makola and Durban based tax executive Yasmeen Suliman; Nairobi based senior managers Winnie Jumba and Kathryne Maundu; and Durban based senior tax advisors Anushka Govender and Bruce Bosch.
 
Chairman and senior partner, Robert Legh, says, “We are delighted to welcome such a large group of senior people to Bowmans. It’s an indication of our optimism about growth prospects across the continent.”
 
He says the firm has made the appointments predominantly to ensure that it is well positioned to support its clients across its geographical footprint in the coming years.
 
This is particularly true for the appointments of Jumba and Maundu in Kenya as client demands in East Africa are somewhat different to those in Southern Africa.
 
According to Richard Harney, managing partner of Bowmans in Kenya, “Company secretarial services are a growing area of practice and the starting point for good corporate governance in the region.  Winnie and Kathryne will help us to support our clients by supplementing and expanding our existing corporate services offering.”
 
In addition to being company secretaries both Jumba and Maundu are certified trainers in corporate governance. They join the firm’s Nairobi based Corporate Services Practice and will provide some much-needed capacity to the existing team.
 
According to Legh, the appointment of Manson in Johannesburg is a good example of the firm’s diversifying the geographical location of specialist skills to better support clients. Manson joins the firm’s Shipping and Logistics Practice, which, prior to her appointment, was based across its Cape Town and Durban offices.
 
He says, “Heather’s aviation-related insurance experience will add a new dimension to the shipping-related insurance experience existing within our Shipping and Logistics Practice.”
 
The appointments of Suliman, Bosch and Govender are further examples of geographical diversification and will make local specialist tax services available to Bowmans’ clients in Durban.
 
Legh expands, “Yasmeen will start our Tax Practice in Durban with the support of Anushka and Bruce. We are especially pleased with this development as it rounds off our ongoing strategic initiative to bolster our Tax Practice.”
 
The new appointments are completed by the return of two former partners to Bowmans – Daniel Pretorius and Mogola Makola.
 
Pretorius had built a solid reputation in constitutional and administrative law, public finance and procurement law and broadcasting and telecommunications law before leaving the firm to teach at a local school. He resumes his position as partner in the firm’s Public Law and Regulatory Practice.
 
Makola had made a valuable contribution not only to the firm’s Tax Practice, but also in various managerial roles before leaving to spend 18 months as chief of enforcement at SARS.
 
Legh concludes, “It’s very satisfying to welcome not one but two valued alumni back to the firm. Both have been away for a while making contributions to the broader community – Daniel in education and Magola in the public sector. We are especially happy that they have chosen to return to us.
 
“We are convinced that the eight appointments that we have made to start the year are an indication of even better things to come.”