Kenyan lawyer Kevin Turunga Ithagi submitted a communication to the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor on 3 November 2026, seeking a preliminary examination of alleged crimes against humanity arising from unpaid pensions for former East African Community employees.

The filing, made under Article 15 of the Rome Statute by Turunga Ithagi & Associates, represents the Chairwoman and Representative Committee of the Ex‑East African Community Workers' Alliance (Payroll 3A1), which advocates for surviving workers and the estates of deceased staff.

The alliance estimates roughly 850 surviving beneficiaries, all Tanzanian nationals, are still awaiting pension and provident‑fund payments that were set aside before the EAC dissolved in 1977.

The funds were originally administered by Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations in London; following the 1984 East African Community Mediation Agreement, Tanzania’s finance minister ordered the transfer of the Tanzanian share (£9,189,410.54) to a Bank of Tanzania account held at the Bank of England on 18 October 1986, with Crown Agents completing the transfer on 20 January 1987.

According to the communication, Tanzanian authorities and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office maintain that the money was handed to the Central Bank of Tanzania, placing responsibility for its administration on the Tanzanian government.

Crown Agents entered compulsory liquidation in August 2024; its joint liquidators lodged a consolidated proof of debt of TZS 1.2 trillion (about £377 million) and indicated that no funds remained available for the pension claimants.

Ithagi asks the ICC prosecutor to register the communication, review the supporting material and consider a preliminary examination of alleged ongoing deprivation of benefits after 1 November 2002, when the Court’s jurisdiction over Tanzania began, including the exclusion of Payroll 3A1 beneficiaries from a 2005 settlement.

The filing notes that the ICC has not yet made any finding of wrongdoing; the submission itself does not open an investigation or assign criminal responsibility to any institution or individual mentioned.