State House orchestrated Mike Sonko’s ouster, witness tells court
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko.
The removal of former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko from office was part of a scheme orchestrated at State House in 2019, the Anti-Corruption Court heard on Monday.
Former Nairobi County Finance Executive Winfred Gathagu made the startling revelations before Chief Magistrate Charles Ondieki, who is presiding over Sonko’s ongoing Sh20 million corruption case.
She testified that the graft charges facing the former governor were part of a broader political plot initiated by senior State House officials who allegedly approached her and other county officials to help fabricate criminal charges and support an impeachment process against Sonko.
Ms Winfred Gathagu, a former Nairobi Finance County Executive Committee Member at the Anti- Corruption Court on July 28 2025.
“My colleagues and I from Nairobi County were approached on several occasions by senior State House officials who asked us to assist in building cases against my former boss, Mike Sonko — for court proceedings, impeachment and related efforts,” Gathagu told the court.
She gave her testimony while being led in Sonko’s defence by lawyers Assa Nyakundi and Elizabeth Ochieng'.
Ms Gathagu said she recorded two statements with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on January 15 and 20, 2020, but was never called to testify as a prosecution witness. She instead presented those statements as part of Sonko’s defence.
She claimed that several strategy meetings were held at State House to engineer a strong corruption case against the former governor.
Recording statements
“I was involved in various aspects of this case, including recording statements and preparing to be a witness. These strategy meetings at State House were specifically aimed at removing Sonko from office,” she said.
According to her, the motivation behind the alleged scheme was Sonko’s relentless campaign against corruption at City Hall.
“All that happened because Sonko was fighting corruption, and the plans to remove him were all hatched at State House,” she told the court.
However, she declined to name the specific State House officials involved, citing safety concerns, noting that most witnesses in Sonko’s case had testified in camera for the same reason.
Under cross-examination by State Prosecutor Wesley Nyamache, Ms Gathagu admitted she did not record any statement with the EACC about the alleged State House plot.
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko at the Anti- Corruption Court on July 28 2025.
She also confirmed that she authorised payments to Webtribe Ltd (popularly known as JamboPay), a company contracted by Nairobi County to handle electronic revenue collection.
“I want to confirm to this court that I made payments to Webtribe when I served as Chief Officer of Finance. The payments were for services rendered in collecting revenue on behalf of Nairobi County,” she testified.
Responding to a question from lawyer Nyakundi, she said she was aware of the company's director Danson Muchemi.
“Yes, I knew Mr Muchemi, and we worked closely with his team on day-to-day revenue collection. The company had already been offering services since the administration of former Governor Evans Kidero in 2018,” she explained.
Ms Gathagu stated that the payments to JamboPay were made without any external influence and clarified that delays were often due to funding issues from the exchequer.
Released funds
“There were delays because the exchequer had not released funds to the county. Sometimes available money had to go to urgent operational costs. That’s what I explained to the EACC,” she said.
She added that some funds were used to comply with court-ordered payments.
Importantly, Ms Gathagu distanced Sonko from any financial dealings involving county funds.
“Sonko was never involved in approving payments. His role was limited to budget-making,” she said, adding that he neither influenced nor directed payments to service providers.
When asked by lawyer Nyakundi whether she had been coerced into paying up to 25,000 individuals, she firmly denied the allegation.
“I was never influenced. I only paid service providers after the county received money from the Central Bank of Kenya,” she said.
She also testified that Sonko had consistently raised concerns about corruption at City Hall, especially involving cashiers and had taken steps to address the problem.
“It is true we discovered irregularities in payment processes. That is why Sonko kept complaining. We took corrective action and fired cashiers who had been in office for over five years and replaced them with new ones,” Ms Gathagu told the court.
The hearing will continue on August 5, 2025.
