Sonko placed on defense in Sh20m graft case

Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko will have to defend himself over corruption allegation charges levelled against him three years ago, a Nairobi court has ruled.

Milimani Magistrate Charles Ondieki said the court is unable to find the charges framed by the state as defective.

The prosecution, he said, has presented a prima facie case against Sonko and his co-accused persons to warrant them being placed on the defence.

This means that the evidence by the Prosecution is enough to support the case but can be rebutted by other evidence.

Sonko has since indicated to the court that he will be calling witnesses among them officers from DCI to support his defence hearing.

The then Milimani Chief Magistrate at the anti-corruption division Douglas Ogoti acquitted Sonko of the charges in 2022 on grounds that the charge sheet as presented by the DPP was defective.

The DPP being dissatisfied appealed and Justice Nixon Sifuna in December last year reinstated the case by saying Ogoti made a mistake in acquitting Sonko while relying on the original charge sheet instead of the amended one.

Sifuna subsequently set aside his acquittal and ordered the case be retried by a magistrate other than Ogoti.

The new magistrate he said shall start by making a fresh ruling based on the amended charge sheet and evidence on record on whether the accused persons have a case to answer.

Magistrate Ondieki while finding Sonko, ROG Security Limited and Anthony Ombok have a case to answer said charges can only be faulted if they are hopelessly framed as to cause extreme embarrassment and injustice to the accused persons.

"The court is unable to find the charges Defective on account of ambiguity," said the Magistrate.

He however acquitted Sonko and his co-accused on two counts of conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption saying those two charges were duplex.

 For the other counts ranging from money laundering, abuse of office and conflict of interest, the court found that the prosecution had presented a prima facie case and the accused persons will have to defend themselves.

On the abuse of office charge, Sonko is alleged to have "improperly conferred a benefit to himself by demanding Sh10 million from Web Tribe Limited through ROG security limited as an inducement to facilitate payments to Web Tribe by Nairobi City County Government".

The offence is said to have been committed in 2019 when he was the Governor.

The magistrate said when the defence hearing commences, adjournments will not be allowed.

It will proceed from May 18 and other dates beginning July 16.