Court declines to lift freeze on Embu MCA's vehicles, land in Sh111.5m graft case

Embu MCA Peter Muriithi Nyaga has suffered a major blow after the High Court declined to lift orders freezing his six vehicles and a parcel of land linked to a Sh111.5 million corruption case.

Justice Joseph Kipkoech Biomdo ruled that the assets must remain preserved pending determination of a recovery suit filed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), although he allowed their restricted use under strict supervision.

The judge directed Nyaga and other defendants not to sell, transfer, assign, charge or otherwise dispose of the properties, warning that any breach of the conditions would attract immediate grounding of the vehicles.

In his ruling, Justice Biomdo ordered the defendants to install functional GPS tracking devices on all six vehicles at their own cost and provide EACC with real-time tracking access to monitor their location and deployment.

The vehicles, registration numbers KHMA 624H, KDD 932H, KDC 857D, KDL 451F, KCQ 172W and ZF-9309, will also be subjected to bi-monthly physical verification exercises involving representatives of the commission and the defendants.

The defendants were further directed to maintain fully paid comprehensive insurance policies for all six vehicles and file copies of the policies and payment receipts in court within 30 days.

Additionally, they must file quarterly reports under oath detailing the operational status, current location, active contract utilisation and mechanical maintenance records of the assets.

Justice Biomdo warned that any breach of the conditions or an unapproved attempt to move the vehicles outside the court's jurisdiction would trigger their immediate and total grounding by EACC without further reference to the court.

The commission moved to court seeking to preserve the properties, claiming they were acquired using proceeds from contracts irregularly awarded by the Embu County Government to companies associated with the MCA.

EACC told the court that investigations established that the county government awarded 20 road works and maintenance contracts worth Sh111,577,188.75 to five companies linked to Nyaga between the 2017/2018 and 2023/2024 financial years.

The commission alleged that Nyaga, who served on influential county assembly committees dealing with infrastructure, roads, public works, housing and energy, engaged in business with the county government through companies associated with him and his immediate family.

It further claimed that part of the money was used to acquire land parcel number Mbeti/Kiamuringa/49, registered in the name of Isaac and Timothy Company Limited at Sh9 million on June 10, 2019, alongside the six motor vehicles.

However, Nyaga and other defendants opposed the application, arguing that the properties were lawfully acquired and constituted essential commercial assets used in ongoing civil engineering contracts.

They maintained that the MCA neither influenced nor participated in the procurement decisions, arguing that awarding and executing contracts were functions of the county executive.

The defendants further warned that continued grounding of the vehicles and machinery would cause rapid physical deterioration, disrupt ongoing public infrastructure projects and expose their businesses to contractual penalties.

In his determination, Justice Biomdo found that EACC had established a prima facie case warranting preservation of the assets.

The judge identified several issues requiring determination at trial, including whether Nyaga used his position in influential county assembly committees to secure tenders for companies controlled by his immediate family and whether the properties were acquired using proceeds from the disputed contracts.

He also noted that completely grounding the specialised machinery and vehicles risked physical deterioration, financial waste and disruption of public infrastructure contracts.

The judge therefore allowed supervised operational use while maintaining restrictions against disposal and imposing safeguards to protect the assets until the main suit is determined.

The court also directed the Land Registrar and the National Transport and Safety Authority to maintain restrictions and caveats against the land title and vehicle logbooks to prevent any transfer of ownership.