Relief for Sonko as court acquits him in Ksh.20M graft case, again

The Anti-Corruption Court has acquitted former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko of two counts in a Ksh.20 million corruption case.

Magistrate Charles Ondieki ruled that the prosecution had filed duplicate charges of conspiracy to commit corruption against Sonko and his co-accused Antony Ombok, which he found to be ambiguous.

“Having failed to present a prima facie evidence in support thereof, and having further offended the rule against duplicity, count one is dismissed and all the accused are acquitted therefore under section 210 of the CPC and count 8 is dismissed and all the three accused are acquitted under the same section,” Magistrate Ondieki ruled.

Despite the acquittal on these charges, the court placed Sonko and Ombok on their defence for charges of money laundering and conflict of interest.

Magistrate Ondieki further allowed Sonko to recall their submissions on December 30, 2024.

During the proceedings, the prosecution conceded that no money was lost in the transactions and that all payments made by Nairobi County were legitimate.

The case will proceed as Sonko and Ombok defend themselves against the remaining charges.

This is the second time the court has acquitted the former Governor and his co-accused in the corruption case.

On December 21, 2022, Milimani Law Courts Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti threw out the graft case against Sonko and his co-accused where they were facing 13 charges relating to graft that led to the loss of Ksh.20 million in a procurement scandal at City Hall.

In his ruling, Magistrate Ogoti freed Sonko and Ombok for lack of evidence, terming the charges as defective.

A week later, former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji appealed the court decision saying that the Magistrate, in making the judgement, relied on an old charge sheet that was filed on January 27, 2020, and disregarded the substituted one filed on September 7, 2020.

According to the then DPP, Magistrate Ogoti hence erred in law by declaring that the charges were defective despite having admitted the amended charge sheet.

The subsequent appeal led to the High Court on December 11 last year, setting aside Sonko’s acquittal.

High Court Judge Nixon Sifuna in his ruling directed that the matter be retried by another Magistrate, further noting that Magistrate Ogoti erred in law when he acquitted Sonko and others in the case.

"This case shall be retried by another Magistrate who shall start by making a fresh ruling on the basis of the evidence on the record,” ruled Justice Sifuna then.

"The said ruling falls flat in its tummy....In arriving at a ruling on whether the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had made a prima facie case, each count and evidence ought to be considered and a conclusion given...the finding can't be in a general manner.”

Sonko, in a statement posted on social media following the Justice Sifuna ruling, said he had instructed his legal team to head to the Court of Appeal to contest the judgment.

“As a law-abiding citizen who holds the judiciary in high regard and respects all judicial decisions, I have instructed my legal team to immediately file an appeal against today's ruling at the Court of Appeal,” he wrote then.

“There's no giving up coz God has always been my protector and defender. He will never let me down. He has always fought my battles and will continue fighting for me to get justice.”