COFEK Petitions EACC to Probe Sh15 Billion Digital Super Highway Tender Linked to Ex-CAK Chair Mary Wambui Mungai

NAIROBI, September 4, 2026 — The Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK) has formally petitioned the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to open an independent investigation into the award of Digital Super Highway Project tenders to Nightigale Enterprises Limited, later rebranded Nightigale (EA) Limited, over allegations that the company was linked to the family of the then Chairperson of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK), Mary Wambui Mungai.

The complaint, lodged a day after a High Court judgment that opened the door for EACC to act, sets in motion what could become one of the more consequential procurement-integrity inquiries touching Kenya’s ICT sector this year — one that reaches into a project already funded to the tune of more than Sh15 billion from the Universal Service Fund (USF).

The Court Ruling On September 3, 2026, Justice Lawrence N. Mugambi of the High Court at Milimani delivered judgment in Consumer Federation of Kenya v Information and Communication Technology Authority & 4 Others (HCCHRPET/E683 of 2024).

While the Court declined, on the doctrine of constitutional avoidance, to make a substantive finding on whether a conflict of interest existed, it held decisively that the EACC — not the Attorney General — is the body constitutionally mandated to investigate such questions. Critically, the Court quashed an advisory opinion issued by the Attorney General on October 1, 2024, which had purported to clear the tender process of any conflict of interest. The judgment found that opinion unconstitutional, null and void, ruling it amounted to an usurpation of EACC’s investigative mandate under Chapter Six of the Constitution and the EACC Act, 2011.

COFEK says it is simply taking up the Court’s invitation. “The Court has been unambiguous: this is EACC’s turf,” the federation states in its complaint, filed under reference COFEK/EACC/CAK/4/9/26 and addressed to EACC Chief Executive Officer Abdi Ahmed Mohamud. What the Project Involves The Digital Super Highway Project is a Cabinet-approved national ICT infrastructure rollout implemented jointly by CAK and the ICT Authority (ICTA).

Under a December 2022 Memorandum of Understanding, an April 2023 Technical Cooperation Agreement, and a subsequent Deed of Transfer of Procurement Responsibility, CAK handed procurement functions to ICTA while retaining budget approval and payment responsibilities, financed through the USF it administers under Section 84W of the Kenya Information and Communications Act.

ICTA subsequently floated two tenders — for Last Mile and Public Wi-Fi Connectivity, and for Backbone and Metro infrastructure — along with related maintenance contracts. Portions of these were awarded to Nightigale Enterprises Limited, later renamed Nightigale (EA) Limited. The Alleged Conflict At the heart of COFEK’s complaint is a shareholding trail. Mary Wambui Mungai, appointed CAK Board Chairperson on December 1, 2022, is alleged to be linked to Nightigale through her daughter, who held 70% of the company’s shares up until on or about May 29, 2024 — a period spanning the tender awards, with contracts dated June 5, July 5 and July 8, 2023.

COFEK alleges that shareholding was then transferred in its entirety to one Ruth Waithira Kinyanjui, now holding 90% of the company, and described as a longstanding business associate and co-shareholder with the Chairperson’s daughter in a separate entity, Nightigale Construction Limited. For COFEK, the sequence — the Chairperson’s own resignation as director/shareholder in December 2022, her daughter’s continued substantial shareholding through the bidding and award period, and the subsequent transfer to a close associate — raises “a credible and serious concern of concealment of beneficial ownership and conflict of interest requiring independent investigation,” regardless of the respondents’ contention that neither woman held shares at the exact moment of contract execution.

What COFEK Wants Investigated The federation’s complaint, anchored in Section 13(c) of the EACC Act and Article 79 of the Constitution, asks the Commission to examine six areas:

✅Beneficial ownership: a full forensic review of Business Registration Service records for Nightigale Enterprises/Nightigale (EA) Limited and Nightigale Construction Limited, tracing all shareholding and directorship changes from incorporation onward. ✅Proxy arrangements: whether Ruth Waithira Kinyanjui acted, or continues to act, as a nominee for the Chairperson or her daughter. ✅Disclosure compliance: whether conflict-of-interest disclosure obligations under Section 59 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act were triggered and met, and whether the tender evaluation committee conducted the due diligence required under Section 83(1) to detect any concealment. ✅Leadership and integrity: whether the Chairperson’s conduct breaches Articles 73 and 75 of the Constitution and applicable conflict-of-interest offences. ✅The financial trail: tracing all USF payments made to Nightigale under the impugned tenders and maintenance contracts, to establish whether any benefit accrued to the Chairperson or her family. ✅Official conduct: whether any CAK or ICTA officer involved in budget approval, evaluation or award had knowledge of the alleged link and failed to act. COFEK has also specifically asked EACC to investigate the circumstances surrounding the now-quashed Attorney General advisory opinion, questioning the role of Solicitor General Shadrack Mose, whom COFEK says “could most likely have been a sitting member on the CAK board” at the relevant time.

Relief Sought Beyond opening a formal investigation, COFEK has asked EACC to exercise its statutory powers to summon records and witnesses, determine whether any offence has been committed under the EACC Act, the Leadership and Integrity Act, or the Conflict-of-Interest Act, 2025, and refer the matter for prosecution where warranted.

The federation has requested acknowledgment of receipt, a case reference number, and to be kept informed of progress as complainant. Why It is Important With over Sh15 billion in public funds at stake in a project meant to extend connectivity, e-government, health, agricultural and financial services to underserved communities, COFEK frames the complaint squarely as a public-interest matter. The federation says it stands ready to avail the underlying petition, supporting affidavits and annexures to the Commission on request. The ball is now in EACC’s court — quite literally, following a ruling that leaves it nowhere to hide from the question.