Telkom Kenya Seeks Court Order to Stop EACC from Merger Interference

Telkom Kenya has on Monday, March 9, 2020, moved to court seeking to stop the anti-graft agency from interfering with any of its properties ahead of its plan to merge with Airtel.

The telco filed a suit against the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) claiming that the commission is demanding a number of its property.

Telcom, which was privatized in 2007 when French telecoms operator Orange bought a majority stake, which was subsequently sold to Helios in 2015, argues that it does not warrant the EACC to investigate its properties in line with Chapter six of the Constitution.

On its side, the anti-graft agency wants the telco to recall any recent sale of its properties and suspend further sales pending the inquiry, which has been ongoing for more than five years as it investigates whether there was the misappropriation of public funds and properties during Telkom Kenya’s privatization and when the firm restructured its balance sheet.

With received clearance from Parliament’s Public Investment Committee through an April 2014 report, which did not recommend any scrutiny with regards to misappropriation of assets before and after its privatization, Telkom now wants the EACC barred from restricting, limiting or otherwise interfering with its property as well as accessing a list of its properties and recalling or suspending any of them pending the conclusion of ongoing investigations.