Nairobi-based activist sues EACC over alleged unlawful arrest and detention

A Nairobi-based rights activist has sued the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for alleged unlawful arrest and detention, claiming he was targeted while seeking documents on procurement malpractices at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).

Peter Odhiambo Agoro has filed a petition at the High Court accusing the EACC of violating his rights during an incident in September 2024.

He alleges that he was framed in an extortion plot to silence his efforts to expose irregularities at the State Corporation.

Court papers indicate that Agoro had requested access to procurement documents from KICC’s Chief Executive Officer, James Mwaura, after receiving whistleblower reports that tenders had been irregularly awarded. The reports further alleged that the spouse of a senior EACC officer was among the direct beneficiaries of the contracts.

Agoro’s lawyer, Dr. Ngala, claims the petition raises serious issues of embezzlement, abuse of office, conflict of interest, and corruption.

He says the activist was arrested on September 16, 2024, at a Nairobi hotel after a meeting with a KICC official who allegedly planted U.S. dollar notes in his bag before EACC officers stormed in with a camera crew.

According to the lawyer, the operation was a pre-arranged entrapment. Agoro was taken to EACC headquarters and later detained overnight at Kilimani Police Station before being released on a Ksh 100,000 cash bail—without any charges being filed nearly a year later.

“The prolonged delay in preferring charges demonstrates selective prosecution, bad faith, and misuse of the criminal justice process,” said Dr. Ngala, adding that the bail conditions have been weaponised to intimidate his client while shielding the real perpetrators of corruption.

The petition also faults EACC for publicising the activist’s arrest on its social media pages, which Agoro says damaged his reputation. He is seeking an order compelling the agency to take down the posts and issue a public apology.

Dr. Ngala further told the court that when the matter was raised with the Commission on Administrative Justice (Ombudsman), it emerged that the KICC CEO had separately filed a cyber harassment complaint at the KICC Police Station. However, the activist was never summoned to record a statement on the allegation.

The petitioner argues that the arrest was part of a wider effort to insulate KICC from accountability while frustrating public interest advocacy. Mr. Agoro is asking the court to terminate the proceedings against him, bar any further prosecution, and award damages for alleged unlawful arrest, detention, defamation, mental torture, and violation of constitutional rights.

He also wants the court to compel the KICC CEO to release the procurement documents requested in a letter dated September 11, 2024.

The respondents in the case are EACC, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and Mr. Mwaura, who are yet to respond to the suit.

The matter will be mentioned on November 6, 2025, before Justice Bahati Mwamuye.