A Nairobi lawyer has been arrested over allegations of forging documents and presenting them before the Employment and Labour Relations Court in a 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 police traced him following a directive by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to have him charged. The lawyer is accused of producing documents bearing forged signatures of three Nairobi Branch officials of the Kenya County Government Workers Union in Nairobi ELRC Cause No. E068 of 2022.
According to investigations, Odero allegedly relied on the disputed documents to claim that the three officials had entered into a Change of Signatory and Fee Note Agreement authorising him to receive Sh150 million after the conclusion of a case in which he claimed to have represented them.
The officials denied signing or executing the agreement, prompting investigators to obtain the disputed documents alongside samples of their known signatures for forensic examination.
A forensic document examiner subsequently concluded that the signatures on the documents were not genuine, supporting the officials’ complaint that the documents presented in court had been forged. Following the investigations, the ODPP on September 2, 2026 directed that Odero be charged with two counts of forgery and one count of uttering a false document.
Police say Odero was required to report to Parklands Police Station but failed to do so, leading officers to mount a search for him. He was eventually located at his Westlands office.
During the arrest, Odero allegedly threatened to jump from a window on the eighth floor of the building in an attempt to avoid being taken into custody. Police further allege that after officers managed to apprehend him, he resisted being handcuffed and bit two officers who were attempting to restrain him.
The lawyer is therefore expected to face additional charges of resisting arrest and assaulting police officers, alongside the forgery-related charges approved by the ODPP.
