Tycoon Mary Wambui Sues Google to Scrub Outdated Tax Case Reports

Mary Wambui, the chairperson of the Athi Water Works Development Agency, has filed a lawsuit against Google LLC and Google Kenya, demanding the removal of search results related to a past tax evasion case.

The businesswoman argues that the continued prominence of these articles on the search engine violates her right to be forgotten, as the underlying criminal charges were formally withdrawn in January 2023.

In her petition before the High Court, Wambui claims that despite the legal resolution of the matter, the search engine still indexes several news stories as top results, creating a false impression that she remains under active prosecution.

She asserts that these digital records have caused professional prejudice, as business associates and the public continue to judge her based on outdated information that no longer reflects her current legal standing.

The original case involved allegations that her company, Purma Holdings Limited, had omitted Sh2.2 billion from its income tax returns between 2014 and 2016.

Wambui and her daughter, Purity Njoki Mungai, were charged in December 2021, but the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) later dropped the charges following a settlement and the payment of fines to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

Her legal team, led by Emmanuel Mumia, contends that Google has neglected to take corrective steps to de-index or delist these stories, which they describe as "outdated and misleading".

The petition argues that maintaining these links violates Sections 25(a), (b), and (c) of the Data Protection Act, which governs how personal data should be processed to protect individual dignity and privacy.

Wambui is seeking a court order to force the technology firm to permanently expunge all links, cached pages, and archived versions of the content.

She also wants the court to compel the company to adjust its search algorithms to ensure that queries for her name do not retrieve reports of the criminal prosecution.

The case highlights an evolving legal debate in Kenya regarding digital privacy and the responsibility of search engines to ensure that information accessible to the public is accurate and current.

Wambui’s lawyer cited international precedents, including the European Court of Justice ruling against Google Spain, where individuals were granted the right to have private information removed from search results under specific conditions.

The petitioner maintains that while the original reporting was factual at the time, the relentless amplification of the content now constitutes a breach of her constitutional rights.

The High Court is expected to determine whether search engines can be held liable for the continued circulation of public records that have since been superseded by judicial outcomes.