Kenya's EACC wins court freeze on Sh245m in assets of lands procurement officer

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has obtained interim court orders preserving properties, a motor vehicle and funds in bank accounts in a civil recovery case involving a Lands procurement officer and seven other defendants.

The orders were issued by the High Court in Nairobi's Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division at Milimani, in a case in which the commission is seeking to recover Sh244,972,109.25. They were granted on October 13, 2026 by Justice Joseph Kipkoech Biomdo following an application by the EACC to safeguard the assets pending the hearing and determination of its application.

Court documents show the suit was filed against Patrick Makau Muteti, a Principal Supply Chain Management Officer at the State Department for Lands and Physical Planning, his spouse Lilian Wanza Musili, and six companies. The case follows EACC investigations into alleged transactions connected to tender awards.

In the substantive suit, the commission is seeking restitution of Sh244.97 million if the court finds that the transactions in question were unlawful. Alternatively, it wants orders for the forfeiture and sale of the identified properties and motor vehicle, as well as the forfeiture of funds held in the specified bank accounts.

The court restrained the defendants, their agents and any other person interested in the suit properties or the vehicle from withdrawing, transferring, disposing of, wasting, alienating, selling or charging the assets, except by way of surrender to the Government. The interim orders do not determine whether the defendants unlawfully acquired the assets.

The defendants are scheduled to respond to the allegations and to the commission's application at a hearing on November 19, 2026.