This Case Study describes how Kenya obtained crucial overseas intelligence in a corruption case through the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre, leading to the recovery of USD 1.8 million in assets for the Kenyan people.

Key points:

• Kenya’s Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) established that between 2013 and 2017, around KES 2 billion (USD 15.5 million) was embezzled from the County Government of Migori in southwest Kenya through unlawful and irregular procurement contracts. The money was spent on property, high-end vehicles and university tuition fees for the former County Governor’s children.
• Through the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre (IACCC), the EACC obtained crucial intelligence on the suspect’s assets, travels and purchases in several jurisdictions.
• This enabled the EACC to prepare and submit precise mutual legal assistance requests, with the assistance of a mentor from the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR).
• The end result was timely evidence collection and an out-of-court settlement worth KES 235.6 million (USD 1.8 million) in property and vehicles. The assets will be liquidated and ultimately returned to the Kenyan treasury.
• The case highlights the value of the IACCC as a mechanism for efficient and coordinated international cooperation in grand corruption investigations, and the benefits of ICAR’s case-based technical assistance in complex, cross-border corruption cases.

About this Case Study

This publication is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Case Study series, ISSN 2813-3900. It is licensed for sharing under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

It is a publication of the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) at the Basel Institute on Governance. ICAR receives core funding from the Governments of Jersey, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and the UK.

While we have made reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy of information provided in this Case Study, neither the authors nor the Basel Institute’s donors and partners assume any responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions.

Suggested citation: Basel Institute on Governance, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (Kenya) and International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre. 2025. “International cooperation in the Migori County corruption case.” Case Study 11, Basel Institute on Governance. Available at: baselgovernance.org/publications/cs-11