Former Nairobi governor Evans Kidero and his wife, Susan Mboya, have mounted a fresh legal challenge against the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) over documents the agency seized during its investigations. The dispute was active on 20 November 2018, when the couple asked the court to compel the commission to release records they say are unrelated to the corruption case against Kidero.
According to the application, the material being withheld includes Kidero’s will dated 30 August 2015, death certificates for his first wife Abigail Kidero and son Philip Kidero, Mumias Sugar Company annual general meeting records, motor vehicle logbooks and tenancy agreements. The couple says those papers are confidential and should not have been taken in the first place.
Their lawyer, Tom Ojienda, told the court that the EACC had failed to comply with an earlier order by Justice Hedwig Ong’udi requiring the agency to return the documents within 72 hours. He accused the commission of ignoring the court and acting in bad faith.
“The petitioners enumerated the documents and items seized from them, which are not related to the EACC investigations, but they have refused to release them in accordance with the court order in a sign of total defiance, abuse of power and bad faith,” said Prof Ojienda.
On 6 November, Justice Ong’udi directed the EACC to meet Kidero, prepare an inventory of the seized assets and hand them back within three days. The judge also barred the commission from searching Kidero’s properties, investigating them further or interfering with his businesses until the dispute is determined.
Mboya separately said the agency had also taken her own records, including her will of August 2014, documents tied to a property transaction in the United States, trademark certificates for her companies, bank statements, tenancy agreements and vehicle logbooks. She maintained that the items were not part of the investigation.
Kidero said the commission was still pursuing him and his family despite the court order. He also accused the EACC of using unqualified people to raid and value his properties, claiming that some of the officers were not registered valuers and that the report they produced was illegal.
He said Pius Maithya, who allegedly valued the properties at Sh9 billion, was not a registered valuer and may have used incorrect calculations, including properties Kidero says he did not own. Kidero argued that the commission’s actions were meant to defeat justice while the matter remained pending in court.
In her affidavit, Mboya accused the anti-graft agency of malice and said her property records were seized without authority even though they were not part of the investigation. The case was scheduled for hearing on the same day.
