Murang’a Governor Francis Irungu Kang’ata has been sued at the High Court in Nairobi for allegedly misusing the name of a former employee in a Senate petition linked to the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 crash.

The case, filed by Davis Mburu Karanja, accuses Kang’ata of fraudulently including his name and those of seven other former staff members in a Senate petition presented on June 19, 2019.

The petition sought compensation, psychosocial support, and issuance of death certificates to families of victims of the crash that claimed 157 lives.

Karanja insists he had no relatives aboard the ill-fated flight and never consented to being listed as a petitioner.

He claims Kang’ata, then serving as Murang’a Senator, exploited parliamentary privileges to present his former employees as victims’ relatives, an act he argues amounts to abuse of office and breach of integrity.

Court papers show that when Karanja sought clarification in February 2025, Kang’ata allegedly failed to respond and instead threatened his lawyer with a defamation suit.

The Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) also intervened, but Kang’ata is said to have issued general denials that contradicted his earlier statements recorded in Senate proceedings.

Hansard records from July 2019 reveal Kang’ata acknowledging that he personally knew the petitioners and had advised them to pursue the matter. This directly conflicts with his later denial of personal involvement.

The petitioner now seeks orders to expunge his name from parliamentary records, a public apology, damages for reputational harm, and a declaration that fraudulent acts by legislators cannot be shielded by parliamentary privilege.

The Attorney General, the Senate, Ethiopian Airlines, and Boeing International Corporation have also been listed as respondents and interested parties in the suit.

The High Court is expected to give directions on the matter in the coming days.