Is secretly recording a phone call legal, and can it be used in court?
Evidence Act, Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018 and Constitution of Kenya · sources read 4 Oct 2026
Tapping into other people's calls or messages without authorisation is a crime. The laws here don't say directly whether you can record a conversation you're part of. A recording can be used in court as electronic evidence, but a court must exclude evidence got by breaking a right, like privacy of communications, if using it would make the trial unfair or harm justice.
- Where
- The court handling your case; to report illegal interception, any police station or DCI office (toll-free 0800 722 203)
Steps
- To rely on a recording in court, produce it with a certificate that identifies the recording, describes how it was made and the device used, signed by a responsible person.
- If a recording made by breaching your rights is used against you, ask the court to exclude it.
- Report illegal interception of your calls or messages at any police station or DCI office.
Watch out
- Intercepting calls or messages without authorisation can lead to a fine of up to KSh 10 million, up to 5 years in jail, or both.
- In a 2021 case from a divorce dispute, the High Court refused recorded phone conversations as breaching privacy of communications.
- Courts can cut out the private parts of a recording and still admit the rest, and decide admissibility at the trial.
Who this covers
- Anyone in a court case: electronic messages and digital material, such as recordings, can be used as evidence.
Official sources (7)
- Evidence Act (Cap. 80) new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018 (No. 5 of 2018) new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Constitution of Kenya, 2010 new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- RC v KKR [2021] KEHC 12803 (KLR), High Court at Nairobi, Constitutional and Human Rights Division (Mrima J) new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Adan v Premier Bank Kenya (Cause E455 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 613 (KLR), Ruling of 28 February 2025 (Nzei J) new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Public Complaints dci.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026
- Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act, 2025 (No. 17 of 2025), Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 170 (Acts No. 17) parliament.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026