High Court clears EACC to prosecute Nairobi lawyer in Ksh.10 million Tuju bribe probe

The High Court has dismissed a petition by lawyer Joseph Kimani Wachira seeking to stop investigations and prosecution over allegations of soliciting and receiving a bribe on behalf of a judge.

In a judgment, the court found that Wachira had failed to demonstrate that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) acted unlawfully or violated his constitutional rights in investigating the allegations.

The court consequently dismissed the petition, lifted interim orders barring his arrest and prosecution, and ordered him to pay the costs of the case.

Wachira had moved to court following his arrest on March 9, 2026, during an EACC operation at Entim Sidai Wellness Sanctuary in Karen. The arrest followed allegations that he, Okiri Thomas Awili and the late former High Court judge Joseph Mutava had solicited Ksh.10 million from businessman Raphael Tuju to secure a favourable ruling in a commercial dispute.

According to the EACC, the money was allegedly intended for a sitting High Court judge handling a dispute involving Dari Limited and Raphael Tuju against Garam Investment Auctioneers and others in Milimani Commercial Case No. E636 of 2024.

The commission told the court that it launched investigations after receiving a complaint from Tuju and facilitated the recording of conversations using an audio-visual device. Investigators also provided treated money before accompanying the complainant to the meeting.

The suspects were arrested after investigators received a signal from the complainant, with the EACC stating that Ksh.1 million in treated currency was recovered during the operation.

Wachira, however, denied soliciting or receiving a bribe, arguing that Tuju produced the money without any demand or prior discussion. He maintained that his arrest was part of a pre-arranged entrapment scheme designed to implicate him.

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He further relied on a statutory declaration by Awili, who allegedly described the operation as a set-up orchestrated by Tuju for personal gain.

In dismissing the entrapment claims, the court held that the evidence presented did not establish that the EACC had induced the commission of an offence or arranged the meeting to manufacture a crime.

The judge found that the commission’s role was limited to facilitating the collection of evidence and that there was no sufficient evidence that investigators had set up the meeting or influenced the discussions.

The court also ruled that the EACC acted within its constitutional and statutory mandate to investigate corruption, bribery and economic crimes after receiving a formal complaint.

It said courts should exercise restraint in interfering with investigations unless there is clear evidence of malice, illegality, abuse of power or a lack of factual basis.

“The Petitioner has failed to demonstrate that the EACC’s probe has crossed the high threshold of malice, clear lack of factual foundation, illegality, or ultra vires action to warrant judicial interference,” the court held.

The judge further declined to determine disputes arising from Awili’s statutory declaration, noting that the conflicting accounts raised questions of fact and evidence that would require proper evaluation at trial.

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