The High Court has dismissed an application by Gregori International, a contractor at the centre of a Sh220 million dispute, seeking to strike out a case filed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) in 2025.

The ruling, delivered on July 31, 2026, by Justice Rose Ougo, allows the EACC to proceed with its suit seeking to recover the funds allegedly lost in the procurement of sports facilities for the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN).

Background to the Dispute

The dispute centres on a 2017-2018 tender for the design, rehabilitation, and installation of sports facilities ahead of CHAN 2018. The EACC claims its investigations found that Gregori International was not registered or accredited by the National Construction Authority when it won the Sh995 million tender and only became registered after the contract had been signed.

The commission alleges that the company colluded with public officials to manipulate the procurement process, leading to the unlawful payment of Sh220.4 million in public funds.

EACC's Case

The EACC claims that its case is fundamentally different from an earlier commercial dispute in which Gregori International secured a partial judgment against the Ministry of Sports. The commission argues that while the commercial case focused on contractual rights, its own case seeks to recover public money allegedly lost through corruption and fraudulent procurement.

The EACC also maintains that it could not pursue an independent recovery claim in the earlier commercial case, despite participating as an interested party. Justice Ougo agreed with the commission's argument, stating that the proceedings before the court concern allegations that public property was lost through corruption.

Justice Ougo's Ruling

In her ruling, Justice Ougo dismissed the application by Gregori International, saying that the allegations of corruption and loss of public funds deserve a full hearing. The judge held that the EACC's case is not based on an ordinary contractual dispute, but rather concerns allegations of corruption, abuse of office, unlawful payments, and fraudulent procurement that were never determined in the earlier proceedings.

Justice Ougo also rejected claims that the case had been filed outside the legal time limit, stating that the court cannot determine whether the claim was time-barred without hearing evidence on the alleged corrupt procurement, investigations, and recovery process.

The judge further held that the EACC cannot be treated as the Attorney General simply because both are public institutions, and that the Attorney General represents the government in civil litigation while the EACC exercises an independent constitutional mandate to investigate corruption and recover public assets.

Next Steps

The EACC's case is set to proceed, with the commission seeking to recover the Sh220.4 million allegedly lost in the procurement of sports facilities for CHAN 2018. The case raises significant public interest issues, and the court has ruled that the allegations require full interrogation through evidence at trial.

The ruling is a significant blow to Gregori International and the other defendants, who had sought to block the case at an early stage. The EACC's success in having the case proceed is a major victory for the anti-corruption agency, which has been pursuing the recovery of public funds allegedly lost through corruption.

Sources

This report was synthesised from the following coverage: