Sonko, Ombok placed on their defence in corruption case

Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has been put on his defence over accusations of abuse of office and conflict of interest in relation to tenders during his tenure as the City county boss.

Anti-corruption court magistrate Charles Ondieki ruled that Mr Sonko has a case to answer in several counts brought against him by the prosecution.

The court, however, acquitted Mr Sonko on two counts of conspiracy to commit an offence faulting the prosecution for duplicating the charges. 

"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 court ruled.  

Mr Sonko was charged alongside Mr Anthony Otieno Ombok alias Jamal and ROG Security Ltd with 13 counts in 2020. 

The initial charge sheet contained 8 counts but the Director of Public Prosecutions amended the case and increased the charges to 13 by including other counts of money laundering and abuse of office among others. 

18 witnesses had testified in the trial and the trial court acquitted the accused persons stating that the prosecution had failed to establish a case against them.

Trial magistrate had also ruled that the prosecution presented a faulty charge sheet by referring Mr Sonko by his title - governor Nairobi county and not by his name. 

DPP Renson Ingonga appealed against the acquittal and High Court judge Nixon Sifuna quashed the acquittal, stating that the magistrate relied on a charge sheet that was amended. 

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The judge then directed Mr Sonko and Mr Ombok to present themselves before the lower court for a ruling on whether they have a case to answer. 

The magistrate said the charges were also ambiguous.

The former governor is accused of using his influence when he was governor to facilitate payments from the county.

Mr Ombok is accused of facilitating the payment of Sh20 million from Web Tribe to Mr Sonko, knowing the money was obtained through corrupt means and wanted to conceal it.

Magistrate Ondieki ordered Ombok and his company to tender defence in regards to four charges of acquiring Sh20 million from Webtribe limited through the Equity Bank account being a benefit in respect of the contract for the revenue collection tender at City Hall.

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According to the evidence presented in court, Ombok received the Sh20 million in four tranches from Webtribe limited on diverse between January 14, 2019 and April 30, 2019 through an account at Equity Bank Limited.

Mr Sonko’s defence lawyer Assa Nyakundi told the court that he will be applying to have some of the key prosecution witnesses summoned to re-testify in Sonko's defence.

The DPP through state counsel Wisley Nyamache sought to indulge him to consultant his boss, EACC and the Witnesses Protection Agency in regards to Mr Sonko's plea to recall some of the protected witnesses who earlier testified in the case.

Mr Nyamache also urged the court to ask Sonko to reveal particulars of the witnesses he intended 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.

Magistrate Ondieki directed the defence hearing will be heard on a day-to-day basis for eight days from May 15, 2025.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include all aspects of the case and ruling, including what Sonko was acquitted of and the charges he still has to answer to.