Sonko Heads to Court of Appeal After Revival of Multi-Million Graft Case

Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has vowed to fight a ruling overturning his acquittal in a Ksh357 million graft case issued on Wednesday.

In a statement on Wednesday, Sonko, who was directed to appear before the High Court on Monday, December 16, asserted that he would file an appeal against the ruling.

“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,” Sonko asserted.

Earlier, Justice Nixon Sifuna quashed Sonko’s acquittal, saying the trial magistrate erred in the December 21, 2022 ruling by relying on a charge sheet that was amended by the Office Director of Public Prosecutions (ODDP).

Sonko and 14 others were 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 dismissed due to lack of evidence. Trial Magistrate Douglas Ogoti acquitted Sonko and one other accused person, ruling that the charge sheet presented by the prosecution was defective.

“Therefore, the learned trial magistrate fell into grave error when he relied on a charge sheet that was amended, in arriving at his decision. This is akin to using the wrong marking scheme to mark an exam. On this alone, the said ruling falls flat,” the judge stated.

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

But Justice Sifuna disagreed, stating that in his ruling, Magistrate Ogoti “fell into grave error when he used the old charge sheet in deciding 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.

Justice Sifuna ordered Sonko and the other accused party to appear in court for directions on Monday. Sifuna further directed that the new magistrate should rule within 30 days whether the two have a case to answer, based on the evidence on record.

Sonko, in his rejoinder shared on X, stated, “There’s no giving up because 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.”