A Nairobi lawyer has been arrested after allegedly presenting forged documents in court in a Sh150 million fee dispute involving officials of the Kenya County Government Workers Union.
Benard Odero Okello of Benard Odero & Company Advocates was arrested at his office at The Westery Building in Westlands after he allegedly resisted a directive to surrender himself to police for questioning.
The arrest followed investigations into a complaint lodged by three Nairobi branch officials of the Kenya County Government Workers Union, who accused the lawyer of forging their signatures on documents filed in Nairobi Employment and Labour Relations Court Cause No. E068 of 2022.
According to the investigators, Odero presented a purported Change of Signatory & Fee Note Agreement, which indicated that the three complainants had agreed to pay him Sh150 million upon conclusion of a case in which he claimed to have represented them.
However, the union officials denied signing or executing the agreement, prompting investigators to subject the disputed documents to forensic examination.
The documents, together with specimens of the complainants’ known signatures, were submitted to a forensic document examiner for analysis.
The examination established that the signatures appearing on the disputed documents were forged, according to the forensic report.
The findings subsequently formed the basis for a recommendation to prosecute the lawyer on charges of forgery and uttering a false document.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) on September 2, 2026, directed that Odero be charged with two counts of forgery and uttering a false document.
He was subsequently summoned to appear at Parklands Police Station but allegedly failed to honour the directive.
Police then launched a search for the lawyer and eventually traced him to his Westlands office.
His arrest, however, was not without incident.
Investigators said Odero resisted attempts to take him into custody and at one point threatened to jump from the eighth-floor window of his office in an apparent attempt to evade arrest.
Police eventually managed to restrain and arrest him.
According to the investigators, Odero allegedly bit two police officers who were attempting to handcuff him.
The incident has now triggered additional criminal charges against the lawyer, with police expected to prefer counts of resisting arrest and assaulting police officers.
The additional allegations will be presented alongside the forgery-related charges approved by the ODPP.
The case stems from the disputed documents that investigators say were used to support Odero’s claim for the Sh150 million legal fees.
The complainants’ denial that they signed the agreement prompted the forensic examination, which investigators say corroborated their claims that the signatures were not genuine.
Odero is expected to be presented before court to face the charges.
