Dr Kidero was, after all, making millions of shilling from his vast real estate business where he boasts of tenants with fat wallets such as the governments of United States, United Kingdom and Sweden, flamboyant lawyer Donald Kipkorir and several expatriates who have leased his properties.
But on September 20, Nairobi’s first governor got a rude shock when nearly 40 officers from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) visited his Muthaiga residence at 6.45am, armed with a search and seizure order from the Chief Magistrate’s Court.
Their mission was to collect evidence that was to be used to prove that Dr Kidero illegally took billions of shillings from taxpayers while serving as Nairobi governor and previously as Mumias Sugar managing director.
The anti-graft watchdog had waited patiently for two years as Dr Kidero’s 2016 petition challenging their probe was at the High Court. Dr Kidero had also, alongside activist Okiya Omtatah, challenged laws allowing the EACC to conduct criminal investigations.
They all argued that EACC should be limited to implementation of chapter six of the Constitution, which dictates how public officials should conduct themselves.
High Court judges George Odunga, Enoch Chacha Mwita and John Mativo dismissed the petitions in June this year, and EACC pounced on Dr Kidero.
They combed through his five bank accounts and went ahead to look at those operated by his wife, Susan Mboya, and the Evans Kidero Foundation.
Perusal of bank records showed that Dr Kidero had made cash deposits totalling Sh317 million between January 2011 and December 2015 in one of his personal accounts. The account had a Sh200 million balance at the time of EACC’s scrutiny this year.
On September 19, detective Shadrack Kaberia Mwenda, on authority from EACC, returned to the Chief Magistrate’s Court where he successfully got an order allowing him and other officers to enter Dr Kidero’s homes and offices and recover anything linked to the probe.
EACC officers spent nearly three hours collecting and docketing several documents and electronic devices they believe contain enough evidence to jail Dr Kidero and recover billions allegedly looted over the years. As Dr Kidero witnessed the search, other detectives were combing his Westlands office and Kisumu home, with the same mission as their Nairobi counterparts. Early in the afternoon, Dr Kidero was arrested and escorted to Integrity Centre.
The anti-graft watchdog has now filed in court parts of the evidence they collected, as they fight off Dr Kidero’s attempts to block investigations into his colossal wealth portfolio.
Dr Kidero’s arrest could be just one of several to come, if EACC’s statement in defence of its search on the former governor’s home is anything to go by.
“The search warrants obtained were not obtained in the furtherance of the ongoing criminal case number 32 of 2018: Republic vs Dr Kidero and 10 others. Case 32 is just one of the cases that are being investigated against Dr Kidero. The petitioners have not provided any evidence to demonstrate that the commission has in this case acted otherwise than in accordance with its constitutional and statutory mandate,” says EACC detective Mulki Abdi Umar in an affidavit.
Documents filed by both parties indicate that the former Nairobi governor has an acquired taste for real estate, and was even in the process of setting up new luxury properties on Riverside Drive, Nyari and Gigiri. Building plans and City Hall approval request documents were seized during the search. Other than the land and buildings Dr Kidero owns locally which EACC say are worth at least Sh9 billion, documents found at his Westlands office show that the former Nairobi governor may have assets in Georgia, United States.
EACC found power of attorney documents pertaining to a property listed as 1850 Peachtree Avenue unit 1902, 30309 and unit 405 at 3286 Northside Parkway, all in Atlanta, Georgia. The documents are dated December 8, 2016.