In courts: Sonko Sh24m graft case set for mention

A Magistrates Court will today mention the Sh24m graft case facing former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko after his acquittal was overturned by the High Court.

Sonko suffered a major setback last week after Justice Nixon Sifuna set aside his acquittal in the corruption case.

Sifuna said the case will be handled by a different magistrate other than the trial Magistrate Douglas Ogoti.

The new magistrate he said shall start by making a fresh ruling on the basis of the evidence that's already on the record on whether the accused persons have a case to answer.

The then-trial Magistrate Douglas Ogoti acquitted Sonko, Anthony Ombok and ROG Security Ltd in 2022 on the basis that the charge sheet presented by the DPP was defective.

Sonko was accused of embezzling funds from the county government by awarding dubious contracts.

The money was allegedly wired back to his accounts and deposited in various parts of the country on diverse dates.

Dissatisfied, the DPP appealed. The DPP in his appeal said Ogoti made a mistake by failing to analyze the evidence adduced by the 19 prosecution witnesses.

They also said that the magistrate, in making the judgment, relied on an old charge sheet that was filed on January 27, 2020, and disregarded the amended and substituted one filed on September 7, 2020.

Sonko was however opposed to the appeal asking the court to uphold the decision of Ogoti.

But Sifuna on Wednesday said Magistrate Ogoti "fell into grave error when he used the old charge sheet in arriving at a decision on the totality of the evidence".

"It's akin to using the wrong marking scheme to mark examination papers. On this alone, the said ruling falls flat," he added.

He said once the DPP had amended the charge sheet, reference could no longer be made to the original charge sheet.

"That charge sheet became spent and as dead as a dodo. It could not be relied on," said Sifuna.

In allowing the appeal by the DPP, Sifuna set aside the ruling by Ogoti that found Sonko and his co-accused have no case to answer.

The Judge at the same time declined to suspend his decision as requested by John Khaminwa who was on record for Sonko and the team.