On Wednesday, the High Court dealt a blow to Wilson Nahashon Kanani, a Nairobi County government employee who also owns the popular 1824 entertainment joint on Lang’ata Road which shut down in December 2023 and later reopened under unclear cirxumstances. The court declined to lift orders freezing his assets totaling Sh.643.2 million.
The ruling follows Justice Esther Maina’s ruling on September 13, 2023, which prohibited Kanani from managing his properties, including high-end vehicles, houses, parcels of land, and Sh.48 million held in various bank accounts.
The High court allowed the the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to freeze the assets on allegations of receiving bribes and kickbacks through his office as a Development Control Officer II at the Urban Planning Department of the Nairobi County government.
Kanani was in charge of regulating, monitoring, and surveillance of all outdoor advertisements. His work entailed ensuring advertisers comply with approvals and payments for advertisements.
The Commission claimed that despite earning a net salary of Sh55,000 per month(Gross Sh.88, 530), Kanani accumulated Sh506.3 million between January 2016 and October 2022.
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The anti-graft watchdog said he received the funds through bank accounts in his name using companies associated with him, his wife, and his children.
Despite challenging the initial court ruling, Kanani faced a setback as Justice Nixon Sifuna, in a judgment delivered on Wednesday, dismissed his application to unfreeze the accounts.
The judge stated that the orders issued by Justice Maina in September 2023 shall continue to abide until the logical conclusion of the matter.
