Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has been dealt a blow after the High Court overturned his acquittal in the sensational Ksh357 million graft case.
Justice Nixon Sifuna made the ruling on Wednesday, December 11, as he determined that the previous magistrate erroneously relied on an amended charge sheet to acquit Sonko and 16 others.
“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,” Sifuna noted.
In his ruling, Sifuna directed the matter be retried by another magistrate, who ‘shall start by making a fresh ruling on the basis of the evidence on the record’.
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko addressing a past function.
Photo David Ndolo
Sonko was handed temporary reprieve earlier on December 21, 2022 after magistrate Douglas Ogoti threw out his case, citing the prosecution’s failure to provide sufficient evidence.
This prompted the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to file an appeal, faulting Magistrate Ogoti for allegedly using an old charge sheet.
The DPP alleged that in using an old charge sheet, the magistrate made an erroneous judgement by tossing out the case on grounds that the charges were defective.
In February this year, the former governor walked free after Chief Magistrate Eunice Nyuttu acquitted him of all charges.
“The prosecution, which called six witnesses, did not tender evidence to warrant the court to proceed on their defence,” the magistrate said at the time.
Nyutu further claimed that the evidence in the case was too weak to convict Sonko, leading to his eventual acquittal.
“The prosecution only managed to call six witnesses before they bungled up their case,” she said in February.
Sonko and 14 others were subsequently acquitted of 19 damaging charges against them, which mainly revolved around embezzling Ksh357 million from the Nairobi County Government through unscrupulous contracts when Sonko was Nairobi County governor.
The case was filed in 2019 but dragged on for years mainly because only six witnesses have come forth to testify over the years.
Of the six, one prime witness has been consistently presenting himself in court while others’ availability has been marred by a spate of factors including the Covid-19 pandemic.
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko.
Photo
Mike Sonko
