Former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero loses bid to stop EACC from investigating his accounts

Former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero has lost a bid to stop Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) from investigating suspected illegal transfer of millions of shillings of public funds into his seven bank accounts.

High Court Judges George Odunga, Chacha Mwita and John Mativo ruled that EACC have the power to obtain search warrants to investigate private citizen’s accounts if they suspect the individual is implicated in unlawful swindling of public funds.

“EACC has the mandate to conduct investigations, there was no malice or contradiction whatsoever within the constitution regarding its mandate to obtain orders to search individual’s accounts. The search warrants for investigation can be obtained without involving the other party,” ruled the judges.

The judges said, the Anti-corruption and Economic Crimes Act and the EACC Act are clear in regard to the parameters and authority of the commission to carry investigations, and that they did not violate the former governor’s right to privacy by going to his accounts.

They said it was wrong for the former governor to rush to court in attempt to block the investigations instead of seeking recourse as stipulated by the law to prevent abuse of the court process.

Dr Kidero had moved to the High Court to challenge a Magistrate Court’s decision to grant the EACC access to his account information through the issuance of warrants.

He argued that the warrants were illegal as they did not specify how long the investigations would take and whether they would cover the period preceding his election into public office.

EACC has sought access to his Standard Charted US dollar account, CBA Sterling Pound account and the Evans Kidero Foundation Family Bank account.