Dr Susan Mboya has accused the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission of overreaching in its investigation into former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero’s source of wealth, saying the agency handled her as if she were part of his property. The court filing, dated in the 2018 dispute and tied to the published date of 2018-11-19, says she is a separate legal person with assets acquired on her own.
In her affidavit, Susan says she had been married to Kidero for seven years, but insists that many of the properties she owns were acquired before that marriage and others were bought later using her own resources. She argues that those assets cannot lawfully be linked to Kidero simply because of the relationship.
She also says the commission had no basis for taking documents and items that were personal to her and unrelated to the investigation against her husband. Among the materials she says were taken are her will, personal income records, mortgage documents and records of ongoing transactions.
“The commission has treated me as though I am an appendage, extension of a property to Kidero yet I am a separate legal entity and person entitled to own property without attachment to Kidero. These acquisitions are my personal properties which cannot be associated with Kidero,” part of the affidavit states.
Susan further claims the continued holding of her private papers amounts to a violation of her privacy and rights. She describes herself in the filing as a professional woman with an independent income and says the commission’s records wrongly portray her as dependent on Kidero.
“I am a professional lady of international standing with a substantial income of my own and not just a mere appendage and property of Kidero who is a dependent spouse as portrayed in the cations of the commission in lumping kidero’s affairs with mine,” she says.
She adds that the documents are confidential and personal, and says it is prejudicial for the commission to keep them despite a court order for their release.
On November 6, Anti-corruption High Court Judge Hedwig Ong’undi ordered that any searched and seized property already found to be unrelated to the matter be released within 72 hours. The judge also directed that a formal inventory be prepared and signed by all affected parties, with copies given to each side and the court.
The order was served on the commission on November 8, after which the agency wrote to Kidero and his lawyers asking them to collect listed documents and property from its offices. Kidero says the items released to him on November 9 were only a small part of what should have been returned, and he says Susan was not invited to collect her own belongings.
In a fresh application, Kidero says the commission has still not fully complied with the court order and is likely to continue ignoring it. He is asking the court to intervene and order the release of all 58 properties.
He says the commission failed to return documents and items that were unrelated to the investigation, including those seized from Susan and others taken from him but not connected to the case. He has also accused the agency of using an unlicensed person to value property under investigation.
Kidero attached Kenya Gazette Notices showing the valuers licensed to practice in 2018, saying the two volumes do not include Pius Maithya. In an affidavit dated October 22, Maithya had said he was a registered valuer and investigator with the commission.
“I have ascertained that Pius Maithya who is in charge of the valuations is not a registered valuer as required by sections 8 and 22 of the Valuers Act, contrary to claims in his affidavit. The Commission lacks the legal authority to undertake the valuations,” Kidero says.
The dispute came as Kidero continued to challenge the legality of the searches and seizures at his premises, while the commission maintained in earlier filings that the searches were lawful.
