Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi has moved to court to challenge the manner in which the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) began investigating him over alleged Senate tender meetings, arguing that the commission acted before confirming whether the meetings at the centre of the allegations had ever taken place.
He says the move breached his constitutional rights and has asked the High Court to allow the Senate to take part in the case.
The matter came up before Justice Rose Ougo on Thursday, where Wamatangi, through his lawyer Jotham Arwa, applied to have the Senate enjoined as an interested party in the petition challenging the investigation process.
Arwa told the court that the Senate has a direct legal stake in the dispute because part of the allegations under investigation relate to meetings Wamatangi is alleged to have convened or chaired while serving as a senator.
According to the lawyer, claims that Wamatangi misused Senate authority by presiding over meetings that allegedly discussed and awarded tenders to companies linked to him are not true.
He told the court that the Senate later wrote to confirm that the meetings referred to in the allegations did not take place, raising questions about the basis upon which EACC opened its investigations.
“How can EACC institute investigations in connection with alleged meetings of the Senate even without finding out from the Senate whether such meetings took place?” Arwa asked.
He argued that the Senate's communication, which came after investigations had already started, showed that the commission failed to establish whether the information it received was accurate before launching the probe.
“It also meant that EACC did not verify whether whatever information they received regarding these alleged meetings was correct,” Arwa said.
The governor's legal team argued that this failure casts doubt on whether EACC had credible material linking Wamatangi to any offence before beginning investigations.
Arwa submitted that before recommending any prosecution, the commission must first establish that the information received is credible and discloses a prima facie case.
He further argued that proceeding with investigations without first giving Wamatangi an opportunity to respond violated his constitutional right to fair administrative action.
“It is our humble submission that the fact that EACC can recommend prosecution even before hearing from the applicant (Wamatangi) is itself a violation of the right to fair administrative action under Article 47 of the Constitution,” he said.
Wamatangi's lawyers insisted that the Senate's participation in the case is necessary because the petition touches on the exercise of its powers and functions.
Arwa said the Senate has an identifiable legal interest in the proceedings and its participation would help the court fully determine the issues raised.
EACC opposed the application, with lawyer Roselyne Murugi urging the court to dismiss the request and instead focus on whether the legal requirements for joining the Senate had been met.
Murugi argued that Wamatangi had not demonstrated how the Senate would be affected by the outcome of the petition.
She also told the court that the governor was attempting to introduce questions about whether the alleged meetings took place, yet those are issues of evidence that should only be determined during trial.
Murugi further argued that allowing the Senate to join the proceedings would delay the case, pointing out that pleadings had already closed in November 2025.
She maintained that granting the application would slow down the hearing of the petition and could interfere with EACC's duty to carry out investigations.
“These are matters of evidence belonging to a trial court and can only be taken there. The commission has already filed a civil suit where the petitioner (Wamatangi) is a party in the matter and this evidence is properly suited in that forum,” Murugi said.
“Public interest continues to suffer with delayed determination of this petition.”
The Director of Public Prosecutions also opposed the application.