Clearing agent gets 2 years in jail for soliciting bribe from orphanage

Philip Mutua Kilonzo, a clearing agent, will serve two years in jail or pay a fine of Sh3.05 million after he was convicted on charges of bribery and obtaining money by false pretense.

Kilonzo was found guilty on April 2, 2025.

An investigation by the EACC established that in 2020, Kilonzo handled the clearance of a cargo container belonging to Grace Children's Home, an orphanage under the African Evangelical Church Ministries in Kangundo, Machakos County.

Despite all customs duties having been fully paid, he engaged in corrupt activities during the process, the court heard.

In October of the same year, Kilonzo falsely asserted that the church had an outstanding customs duty and demanded a bribe of Sh5.8 million to have the debt "written off" by officials from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

A subsequent investigation uncovered that on October 1, 2020, Kilonzo received Sh20,000 from a church official, presenting it falsely as travel expenses for a supposed trip from Busia to Nairobi, where he claimed he would resolve the alleged tax dispute between the church and KRA.

Kilonzo was arrested and brought to court on May 14, 2024, following the Director of Public Prosecutions' approval of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission's (EACC) recommendation to file charges under the Anti-Bribery Act and the Penal Code.

On April 2, 2025, Milimani Anti-Corruption Court Principal Magistrate Hon. Celestine Okore sentenced Kilonzo to two years in prison or a fine of Sh1.5 million for the first two bribery charges.

Additionally, he was sentenced to eight months in prison or a fine of Sh50,000 for obtaining money by false pretense.

The sentences will run concurrently.

Meanwhile, the EACC, which conducted investigations in the case has welcomed the conviction and sentencing.