Kidero launch fresh fight with EACC over seized documents

Former Nairobi governor Evans Kidero with his wife, Susan Mboya, at St Francis Anglican Church in Karen. [File, Standard]

Former Nairobi governor Evans Kidero has launched a fresh battle against the anti-graft agency for confiscating his documents.

Dr Kidero and his wife Susan Mboya have filed an urgent suit to force the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to release key documents relating to his multi-billion shilling properties.

They argued that some of the papers seized were confidential and not related to the corruption allegations that the EACC has filed against Kidero.

Among the documents Kidero claimed were being illegally withheld were his will dated August 30, 2015, death certificates of his first wife Abigail Kidero and son Philip Kidero, details of Mumias Sugar Company annual general meetings, motor vehicle logbooks and several tenancy agreements.

The couple's lawyer, Tom Ojienda, said the anti-graft agency was in contempt of court for refusing to release the documents within 72 hours as ordered by Justice Hedwig Ong’udi.

Sign of defiance

“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 November 6, Justice Ong’udi ordered the EACC to sit with the former governor, make an inventory of the assets that had been seized and hand them back to him within three days.

The judge also restrained the commission from investigating or searching Kidero’s properties or interfering with his businesses pending the determination of the dispute.

Dr Mboya also listed documents she claimed the EACC had refused to release, including her will of August 2014, documents of a transaction of properties in the United States, trademark certificates of her companies, bank statements, tenancy agreements and the logbooks of her vehicles.

The former governor said that despite the order, the commission was still adamant in pursuing him and his wife and withholding documents that were not related to its investigations.

“They have not fully complied with the order and despite a formal request through my advocate, they have refused. This is a clear indication of their intention to continue interfering with me and my family.”

Property value

He further accused the EACC of using unqualified personnel to raid and value his properties, arguing that some of the officers were not registered to evaluate property and that the report they generated leading to the dispute was illegal.

According to the former governor, Pius Maithya, who apparently valued his properties to be worth Sh9 billion, was not a registered valuer and might have used wrong calculations to list even properties that he did not own to mislead the court.

“The commission’s actions demonstrate its determination to continue infringing on my rights by continuing raids and registering restrictions on my properties to defeat the course of justice given that the matter is still pending determination in court,” Kidero said.

In her affidavit, Mboya accused the commission of malice, stating that her properties and documents were not part of what the anti-graft body was investigating but the agency had gone ahead to seize them without authority. The case is scheduled for hearing today.