Creating space, shaping change: Melba Wasunna takes helm as Country Manager for Energy Fuels 

Building on the work and relationships developed throughout her wide-ranging legal and leadership career, while continuing to create opportunities for others, is vital to Dr Melba K Wasunna as she begins a new chapter this month as Country Manager - Kenya for Colorado-based multinational critical minerals company Energy Fuels Inc.

“I am grateful to Energy Fuels Inc for the opportunity and to the many colleagues, partners, stakeholders and friends who have been part of the journey so far,” shared Wasunna, as she revealed her new role. “I look forward to building on the work we have done together and contributing to the continued success of Energy Fuels Inc in Kenya.”

The appointment marks another significant step in Wasunna’s leadership career within a business she already knows well. After progressing from External Affairs Manager to GM – External Affairs at Base Titanium, she now takes on country-level leadership for the critical minerals multinational that acquired Base Titanium’s Australian parent, in 2024.

The move retains strong continuity with Kwale mineral sands mine in Kenya, where Energy Fuels, through Base Titanium, is overseeing the former mine’s closure and rehabilitation.

“I am very pleased to continue supporting the Kwale project as it moves through an important phase of mine closure, rehabilitation, asset transition and environmental stewardship,” said Wasunna.

Earlier this year, Wasunna served on Kenya’s first Post-Mining Land Use (PMLU) Committee, which brought together government, technical experts, and local communities to help develop a roadmap for the sustainable post-mining use of the Kwale mine site.

Some of those issues echo themes that have threaded through a career in which law has provided a foundation for increasingly broad work across extractives policy, governance, sustainability, and corporate leadership.

A University of Cape Town law graduate, Wasunna began her legal career as an associate attorney at international law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York. After returning to Kenya, her roles included serving as Principal Legal Adviser in the Office of the Deputy Chief Justice. The intersection of law, business, human rights, and extractive industries been a calling card throughout Wasunna's career. Nearly fifteen years ago she completed a Doctor of Juridical Science at Australia’s Monash University, with research focused on corporate accountability and human rights in multinational extractive operations.

She later led the Strathmore University Extractives Industry Centre and Extractives Baraza, working across research, policy and advocacy while helping create spaces for dialogue among industry, government, communities and civil society.

That expertise provided a bridge into industry when Wasunna joined Base Titanium in 2018, becoming its first African External Affairs Manager. Her remit ultimately stretched across government and stakeholder relations, strategy, sustainability, governance and risk, before she rose to GM – External Affairs.

Wasunna has also long championed women’s participation and opportunities in extractives. She helped establish the Association for Women in Energy and Extractives in Kenya (AWEIK), serving as its founding vice-chairperson before five years as chairperson and two as patron. That commitment gives added resonance to the words Wasunna chose when looking ahead to her new role as Country Manager - Kenya for Energy Fuels Inc.

“Here’s to new chapters, meaningful work, and – perhaps most importantly – continuing to create space for others to rise.”