Alphonce Munene Mutinda, a Nairobi lawyer, has been instructed by the High Court to reimburse a sum of Sh 25.9 million. This amount was initially received by him as part of the larger Sh 283 million scandal involving the Nairobi City Council cemetery.

In a statement on Thursday, March 21, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) said Mutinda was one of the masterminds in the scandal which has been in court for years.

“The High Court has ordered Nairobi Lawyer Alphonce Munene Mutinda, one of the brains behind the Sh 283 million Nairobi City Council cemetery scandal to pay back Sh. 25.9 million that he received from the fraudulent transaction,” EACC stated.

While issuing the ruling, Justice Maina also ordered Mutinda to pay the costs of the suit to EACC and interest on the amount from the date he received it in 2009, at court rates.

Mutinda and other officials of the now defunct Nairobi City Council are accused to have colluded to purchase land worth Sh 110 million at Sh 283 million and shared the extra Sh173 million amongst themselves and private companies associated with them.

On July 2023, EACC recovered Sh 9.45 million from a private company which is believed to have acquired the funds in the purchase of the city cemetery.

“From the amount shared, Naen Rech Limited received Ksh.9,450,000. This is one of nine suits filed by EACC to recover a total of Sh173 million fraudulently acquired in the purchase of public cemetery land by the defunct City Council of Nairobi,” EACC said then.