Dr Susan Mboya, the wife of former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero, has faulted the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission for treating her as if she is an extension of Kidero’s property in investigations they are conducting into the latter’s source of wealth.
In an affidavit filed in court, Susan says she has been married to Kidero for the last seven years and prior to that she had acquired several properties and continue to acquire more through her own personal resources and means not connected with Kidero.
“The commission has treated me as though I am an appendage, extension of a property to Kidero yet I am a separate legal entity and person entitled to own property without attachment to Kidero. These acquisitions are my personal properties which cannot be associated with Kidero,” reads part of her affidavit
Susan says there can be no justification in the commission’s seizure of documents and items that are personal to her and not related to Kidero or the investigations being undertaken against him.
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Some of the documents unlawfully seized from Susan by the commission include her will, personal income records, investment mortgage documents and ongoing transactions.
She says the commission’s continued invasion into her privacy for the sole reason that she is Kidero’s wife continues a gross violation of her rights.
“I am a professional lady of international standing with a substantial income of my own and not just a mere appendage and property of Kidero who is a dependent spouse as portrayed in the cations of the commission in lumping kidero’s affairs with mine,” she says.
“These documents and items are of a very personal and confidential nature and it is very prejudicial to me that the same were seized and continue being held by the commission notwithstanding the order for their immediate release to me,” she adds.
On November 6, Anti-corruption High court Judge Hedwig Ong’undi issued an order directing “that any searched and seized properties which the commission has already found to be unrelated to the matter at hand must be released forthwith within the next 72 hours. A formally prepared inventory shall be signed by all affected parties with a copy to each of them and the court,”
The order was served on the commission on November 8 and the commission immediately wrote a letter to Kidero and his lawyers notifying them to attend their offices to collect several documents and properties itemized in their letter.
But Kidero says the documents released to him on November 9 are an insignificant portion of what is irrelevant to the commission’s investigations. His wife was however not invited to collect hers.
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In a fresh application, Kidero now claims that the commission has not fully complied with the order issued in court and its conduct demonstrates that it is likely to continue in the non-compliance with the order. He now wants the court to intervene and release all the 58 properties.
“The commission did not release documents and items unrelated to its investigations in particular, those seized from Susan and those seized from me but which have no relevance to the investigations claimed to be undertaken,” he says
Kidero has also accused the commission of sending unlicensed person to value his property, which is under investigation.
The former governor has attached copies of Kenya Gazette Notices, which notified the public of valuers licensed to practice in 2018.
The two volumes do not contain one Pius Maithya who in an affidavit dated October 22 said claims he is a registered Valuer and investigator with the commission.
“I have ascertained that Pius Maithya who is in charge of the valuations is not a registered valuer as required by sections 8 and 22 of the Valuers Act, contrary to claims in his affidavit. The Commission lacks the legal authority to undertake the valuations,” he says.
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