DPP Haji To Appeal Dropped Ksh20M Charges Against Sonko
The acquittal could not meet the constitutional threshold to warrant putting the accused persons on their defence.
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The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has announced that it will launch an appeal against the acquittal of former Nairobi Governor, Mike Sonko, in a Ksh20 million corruption case.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, December 21, hours after the ruling was made by Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti, ODPP under Noordin Haji stated that the ruling was based on a faulty charge sheet and not on the merits of the case.
He added that the acquittal could not meet the constitutional threshold to warrant putting the accused persons on their defence.
"The ODPP will appeal against the ruling of Hon. Ogoti delivered today acquitting all accused persons in the case of the former governor of Nairobi and others. The court acquitted on the basis that the charge sheet was defective, and not on the merits and substance of the case.
Former Nairobi Governor, Mike Sonko. /FILE
"The prosecution called a total of 19 witnesses and produced 113 documentary exhibits in support of its case and closed its case on July 27, 2022," the statement read in part.
The former county boss was charged alongside others with the offence of conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption, conflict of interest, money laundering and acquisition of proceeds of crime.
Judge Ogoti ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
“I find that the prosecution has failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. The entire case against all accused persons collapses under section 210 Criminal Procedure Code (CPC); they are now all acquitted,” Ogoti noted.
Sonko was charged alongside businessman Antony Ombok Jamal with conspiring to defraud the Nairobi County government a tune of Ksh20 million in 2019.
Haji had also accused Sonko of misusing Ksh357 million from City Hall. However, Judge Ogoti confirmed that all 13 graft charges filed by the ODPP against Sonko and Jamal were defective.
The magistrate also revealed that the ODPP failed to adduce evidence to identify the companies that were allegedly involved in the graft and that no money was stolen from Nairobi County as no evidence was presented in court, to that effect.
Speaking after the ruling, Sonko was grateful for the developments, noting that it was a tough three years for him. He insisted that the case was a political plot to have him kicked out of office.
“Someone wanted to control Nairobi and made up the charges to remove me from office but God has proven them wrong,” stated Sonko.
He further expressed his confidence that the rest of his charges will be dropped in the near future, stating that he had gone through a lot of pain due to the witch-hunt.
“I want to ask Kenyans to continue praying for me so that the remaining cases are dropped as well because you all know what we went through while in leadership,” Sonko added.
Mike Sonko with President William Ruto at his official residence on July 30, 2022. /DPPS Sonko was impeached in December 2020 after members of the Senate voted overwhelmingly to kick him out of the office
The Senate voted overwhelmingly in favour of four charges brought against the governor which include gross violation of the constitution, abuse of office, misconduct and crimes against national law. 27 senators supported the charges against 16 who voted against them.
Sonko was first impeached by 88 Members of the County Assembly (MCA) on December 3, 2020, when they voted to support the impeachment motion while two others voted against the move. He had survived the first impeachment motion in February of that year.
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