A group of Kenyan petitioners led by JILK Construction Company Ltd has filed a constitutional petition seeking urgent court orders to stop an alleged planned transfer of shareholding involving Asahi Group Holdings Ltd, Diageo plc and East African Breweries Limited pending investigations into alleged human rights and corporate governance violations.

The petitioners — including Betha Wanjiru Ndirangu, Mary Njeri Wanyutu and Sammy Maina Kamau — have sued Asahi Group Holdings Ltd alongside the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning, the Attorney General, the Capital Markets Authority, the Competition Authority of Kenya, Diageo plc and East African Breweries Limited (EABL).

In court papers filed in Nairobi, the applicants through their lawyer Kibe Mungai are seeking conservatory orders restraining the respondents from “effecting, implementing, completing, or in any manner proceeding” with the intended transfer, sale or disposal of Diageo’s shareholding in EABL until the case is heard and determined.

In the suit Kibe argue that the proposed transaction should not proceed before the Attorney General certifies that human rights due diligence has been conducted in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

They are also asking the court to bar the Capital Markets Authority and the Competition Authority of Kenya from approving or facilitating the transaction pending the hearing of the petition.

According to the pleadings, the dispute stems from complaints allegedly lodged by the first petitioner before the Competition Authority on January 12, 2026, accusing Diageo and EABL of “unconscionable business conduct.” The allegations include claims of sexual harassment involving female staff, engagement of unauthorized personnel during a project, and alleged fabrication of evidence in ongoing arbitration proceedings.

The petitioners claim that the Competition Authority declined to investigate the complaint through a letter dated February 18, 2026, citing lack of jurisdiction.

They further contend that they have been denied their statutory right of appeal because the Competition Tribunal is currently non-functional due to the absence of a duly appointed chairperson as required under Section 71 of the Competition Act.

The suit seeks a mandatory injunction compelling the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning to appoint a chairperson of the Competition Tribunal. Pending that appointment, the petitioners want the court to prohibit the Competition Authority from approving the proposed transaction.

The applicants also seek orders compelling both the Attorney General and the Competition Authority to hear and determine their grievances against Diageo and EABL.

In the petition, the applicants argue that unless the court intervenes urgently, the proposed transaction could be completed before they exercise their right of appeal or obtain remedies in arbitration and constitutional proceedings already underway.

“The completion of the impugned transaction would create irreversible corporate control and market consequences which may not be capable of being effectively remedied after the fact,” the court documents state.

The petitioners maintain that Kenyan state agencies have constitutional obligations under Articles 2, 21 and 156(6) of the Constitution to enforce the United Nations principles on business and human rights in commercial transactions and share transfers.

The application is supported by affidavits sworn by Kevin John Njuguna and Sammy Kamau Maina.

The matter is expected to raise significant questions about corporate accountability, regulatory oversight and the application of international human rights standards in major commercial transactions involving multinational corporations operating in Kenya.