Court orders EACC to return Natembeya’s seized property within 10 Days

Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya./FILE

A Nairobi court has ordered the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to return all items seized from Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya within 10 days.

The orders reinforced a High Court decision that quashed his arrest and subsequent prosecution over alleged graft.

When the matter came up before Magistrate Isabella Barasa on Wednesday, the court held that in the absence of a stay order, State agencies could not continue to hold property belonging to the governor. 

The directive follows a ruling by the High Court of Kenya which found that Natembeya’s constitutional rights had been violated during his arrest and subsequent prosecution.

“I think if we are to approach the court under one hand, we must be willing to obey orders of the court,” Barasa said, adding that judicial processes cannot be invoked selectively. 

She emphasised that there was no legal basis for continued retention of the items, noting that the High Court had already quashed the proceedings before the magistrate’s court.

"In absence of a stay the items listed in inventory shall be returned within the next 10 days," she directed.

The governor had earlier been arrested and arraigned at the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court on charges of alleged financial irregularities.

Investigations were led by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) alongside the EACC, with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) preferring charges linked to what was described as a Sh1.4 billion loss.

However, the High Court found that the process leading to the charges was flawed. 

Justice Mwamuye ruled that Natembeya had been denied access to legal counsel and subjected to procedural irregularities, including improper execution of warrants. 

"A declaration be and is hereby issued that the institution and continuation of criminal proceedings in the Milimani Anti-Corruption Case of 2025 is an abuse of process, is unlawful, and is unconstitutional," he ruled.

It also barred the ODPP, DCI and EACC from instituting further proceedings against the governor in relation to the matter, and awarded him Sh2.5 million in damages for violation of his rights.

Despite the ruling, the ODPP has since moved to the Court of Appeal of Kenya seeking to overturn the decision.

The appeal remains pending, but no stay orders have been issued to suspend the High Court’s directives.

It is this legal vacuum that informed Magistrate Barasa’s decision on Wednesday. 

She ordered that, alongside the refund of cash bail amounting to Sh500,000, all items listed in the inventory be returned to Natembeya within 10 days.