The Weekly Vision Court Reporter
The High Court’s Constitutional and Human Rights Division has certified as urgent a petition by Nairobi-based activist Francis Awino against the State Law Office, digital lender Platinum Credit Limited and two other respondents in a dispute raising questions about the handling and protection of personal data.
In a ruling issued on 24 August 2026, Lady Justice Patricia Mande Nyaundi, SC, certified Mr Awino’s Notice of Motion as urgent, allowing the matter to be heard during the court vacation. The court directed the petitioner to serve the respondents within 48 hours, and no later than 27 August 2026. The respondents have been given seven days from the date of service to file their responses. In comparison, the petitioner has been granted leave to file a further affidavit within seven days of receiving those responses.
The judge also granted interim orders sought under the second and third prayers of the application, pending a mention before Justice Mutai on 28 September 2026. At that stage, the court is expected to consider compliance with its directions and issue further orders. The ruling on the urgency of the application does not, by itself, determine the merits of the petition or set out the full substance of the allegations against the respondents.
However, documents exhibited in the proceedings indicate that the dispute touches on the processing and protection of personal data within Kenya’s digital lending industry, with Platinum Credit at the centre of some of the complaints placed before the court.
Among the documents presented are determinations previously issued by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) in complaints involving Platinum Credit. One of the matters, ODPC Complaint No. 0456 of 2023, was consolidated with two related complaints brought by Shillah T.M.K., Michael Kangethe and Elijah Njoroge.
Another determination, ODPC Complaint No. 1090 of 2024, arose from a complaint by Donald Mkala Ngolo, who alleged that Platinum Credit had processed his personal data for marketing purposes without his express consent.
In ODPC Complaint No. 0732 of 2025, complainant Joseph Githinji Kimani alleged that employees of the lender unlawfully accessed and used his personal documents and data to process a loan application to the State Department for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) without his authorisation.
These determinations form part of the material now before the High Court. Their inclusion in the petition does not, however, mean that the allegations contained in them have been upheld in the present proceedings. The petition also refers to a separate High Court appellate decision delivered on 25 May 2026 in HCCA E282 of 2025, involving Platinum Credit and an ODPC determination.
In that case, Platinum Credit challenged a decision in which the ODPC had awarded KSh400,000 in compensation to complainant Samuel Kamau Waweru over alleged unauthorised processing of his personal data by a sales agent associated with the company.
Justice A.N. Ongeri allowed the appeal and set aside the compensation award after finding that the ODPC had breached the rules of natural justice by failing to give Platinum Credit an adequate opportunity to respond to key witness evidence relied upon in reaching its determination.
Importantly, the court’s decision did not amount to a finding that the underlying data-protection concerns were entirely without merit. The judgment recorded the court’s view that Platinum Credit had “likely breached its data protection obligations” through the actions of its agents, while holding that procedural shortcomings in the ODPC’s handling of the complaint rendered the compensation award unsustainable.
The distinction is significant: the High Court’s intervention concerned the manner in which the regulatory determination had been reached, rather than simply endorsing the underlying allegations. Platinum Credit Limited is among the entities licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) as a Digital Credit Provider.
A Kenya Gazette notice published in September 2025 records that CBK licensed Platinum Credit Limited, alongside other digital credit providers, on 2 September 2025 pursuant to the Central Bank of Kenya (Digital Credit Providers) Regulations, 2022.
The company’s regulatory status is relevant because licensed digital lenders operate within a framework that includes obligations concerning responsible lending, consumer protection and the handling of customer information. Kenya’s data-protection regime, meanwhile, places obligations on organisations that collect and process personal information, including requirements relating to lawful processing, transparency, consent where applicable, security safeguards and the rights of data subjects.
The respondents will first have an opportunity to respond to Mr Awino’s application and the allegations contained in the substantive proceedings. The petitioner will then have an opportunity to respond to those filings before the matter returns to court on 28 September 2026 for further directions.
The case will therefore provide a closely watched test of how Kenya’s constitutional right to privacy and its data-protection framework intersect with the practices of digital lenders and other institutions handling sensitive personal information.
