Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko acquitted in Sh20 million graft case
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko at Milimani Law Courts on February 7, 2024.
What you need to know:
- The Sh20 million is alleged to have been unlawfully obtained from Webtribe Limited in a 2019.
- Following the ruling, defence lawyer Assa Nyakundi applauded the court for the well-reasoned ruling.
The anti-corruption court has acquitted former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko of two counts in a Sh20 million graft case
In his ruling, Magistrate Charles Ondieki said there was duplicity of the charges by the prosecution.
The magistrate said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) duplicated the charges of conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption against Mr Sonko and his co-accused businessman Mr Antony Ombok alias Jamal.
The magistrate faulted the DPP for filing similar charges against Mr Sonko arising from the same transaction, terming the charges as ambiguous.
"Having failed to present a prima facie evidence in support of conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption charges and having therefore gone against the rule of duplicity, count one and eight are hereby dismissed. All accused persons are acquitted thereof under section 210 of the Criminal prosecute code(CPC),” the magistrate ruled.
The ruling follows an order for a retrial by Justice Nixon Sifuna in December 2024.
However, the magistrate placed Mr Sonko and Mr Ombok on their defence on charges of abuse of office, money laundering, conflict of interest, and acquisition of proceeds of crime.
"Pertaining to counts 2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10,11,12 and 13 this court has substantively considered the totality of both oral and documentary evidence presented by the prosecution. The evidence on record has general punctuation in my mind that the prosecution has made a prima facie case against each accused to warrant each of them being placed on their defence," Ondieki ruled.
"Having presented a prima facie case on charges of abuse of office against Mr Sonko is hereby called upon to defend himself," the magistrate further said.
In the case, the former governor is accused of using his influence when he was governor to facilitate payments from Nairobi County.
The Sh20 million is alleged to have been unlawfully obtained from Webtribe Limited in a 2019 Nairobi County Revenue collection tender.
Mr Ombok is accused of facilitating the payment from Webtribe to Mr Sonko, knowing that the money was obtained through corrupt means.
The magistrate ordered Mr Ombok and his company to tender defence in regards to four charges of acquiring Sh20 million from Webtribe Limited.
According to the evidence presented in court, Mr Ombok received Sh20 million in four tranches from Webtribe Limited on diverse dates between January 14, 2019 and April 30, 2019 through an Equity Bank account.
Following the ruling, defence lawyer Assa Nyakundi applauded the court for the well-reasoned ruling, saying it was a win for both the defence and the prosecution.
Mr Nyakundi told the court that his client would give an unsworn defence and would call a total of 15 witnesses, including four DCI police officers who testified in camera as prosecution witnesses.
The lawyer further disclosed that Mr Sonko is eager to demonstrate that the charges are outrageous.
"The defence will also present audio and video recording to exonerate Mr Sonko from the charges," Mr Nyakundi submitted.
The lawyer told the court that he would be applying to have some of the key prosecution witnesses summoned to re-testify in Mr Sonko's defence.
The DPP, through state counsel Wisley Nyamache, urged the court to ask Mr Sonko to reveal particulars of the witnesses he intends to call in his defence.
Consequently, the magistrate directed Mr Sonko's lawyer to file a formal application for the summoning of the intended witnesses.
The magistrate directed that the defence hearing be heard on a day-to-day basis for eight days from May 15, 2025.
