A fresh political and legal storm has erupted in Kenya after former driver Davis Mburu Karanja from Murang’a County sued Governor Irungu Kang’ata over a controversial Ethiopian Airlines Crash Compensation Petition.
Mburu claims Kang’ata illegally used his name and those of seven other former staff members in a 2019 Senate petition seeking compensation for victims of the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people.
The lawsuit now pits the Murang’a Governor against his former employee, the Senate, the Attorney General, and international aviation giants Ethiopian Airlines and Boeing.
Ethiopian Airlines Crash Compensation Petition Faces Court Battle
The Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash of March 2019 killed all 157 people onboard, including 32 Kenyans. In June of that year, then Senator Irungu Kang’ata filed a petition in the Senate, urging the government to support the victims’ families in pursuing compensation.
But six years later, the petition has become the center of a heated courtroom battle. Davis Mburu Karanja, who once worked as a driver for Kang’ata, says his name was unlawfully included in the petition. He only discovered the alleged misuse in October 2024 when he began digging into Senate records.
Mburu insists he has no family or social connection to the crash victims and accuses Kang’ata of abusing his position. In his sworn statement, Mburu said:
“I had no involvement in the crash, nor any association with its victims, and I never authorised anyone to include my name in such a petition.”
The case now threatens to expose loopholes in how petitions are verified and could set a precedent for accountability in parliamentary submissions.
Mburu Cites Violation of Constitutional Rights
Through his lawyer, Soyinka Lempaa, Mburu is invoking constitutional protections, citing breaches of his rights under Articles 28 (human dignity), 33 (freedom of expression), 35 (access to information), and 47 (fair administrative action).
His legal team argues that Kang’ata “abused his position” by presenting former employees as relatives of crash victims, giving the petition false credibility. Court documents reveal that Kang’ata defended himself by claiming he knew those listed and only advised them to file the petition since he had a conflict of interest.
However, Mburu disputes this, saying the listed names were simply Kang’ata’s former staff with no link to the Ethiopian Airlines tragedy.
The lawsuit also names the Senate and the Attorney General as respondents, while Ethiopian Airlines and Boeing International Corporation appear as interested parties, given the global implications of the compensation case.
Senate Admits Mistake, but Mburu Claims Harassment
The case took a dramatic twist in November 2024 when the Clerk of the Senate admitted in writing that Mburu’s name had been included “by mistake” without proper verification. This admission came after the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) intervened, requesting clarification from the Senate.
But according to Mburu, seeking answers only made him a target. He alleges that after pressing the issue, Kang’ata instigated a criminal complaint that led to his arrest and arraignment at the Thika Law Courts. Police unsuccessfully tried to detain him for 14 days, a move he sees as political retaliation.
Mburu is now asking the High Court to issue an order restraining Kang’ata and the Senate from using his name in relation to the petition. He also wants the full release of all related documents and a formal explanation of how the names were included without consent.
High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi has directed Kang’ata and the Senate to file their responses within 14 days. The case promises to test the boundaries of political accountability, constitutional rights, and the integrity of parliamentary procedures.
