High Court Orders Retrial as Sonko’s Acquittal in Kes20m Corruption Case Is Overturned
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko is headed back to the dock after the High Court overturned his 2022 acquittal in a Kes20 million corruption case, ruling that the trial court made a critical legal error. Sonko and his co-accused, businessman Antony Ombok Jamal, will now undergo a fresh evaluation to determine whether they have a case to answer.
In its decision delivered on Wednesday, the High Court found that the trial magistrate wrongly relied on an outdated charge sheet when acquitting the accused. The court noted that once the original charge sheet was amended in September 2020, it ceased to have legal effect, yet the trial court used it as the basis for declaring the evidence insufficient. The amended charges were formally presented to the accused on September 14, 2022.
The case, initially filed on January 27, 2020, followed recommendations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). Sonko and his co-accused were charged with money laundering, conflict of interest, fraudulent acquisition of public property, and conspiracy to commit corruption. The prosecution called 19 witnesses before the trial court ruled on December 21, 2022, that the evidence did not meet the threshold required to place the accused on their defense.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) immediately appealed the acquittal, arguing that the magistrate misdirected himself in law by evaluating the case using the original—rather than the amended—charge sheet. On December 22, 2022, the ODPP filed High Court Anti-Corruption Appeal No. E016 of 2022, seeking to overturn the judgment.
In siding with the ODPP, the High Court declared that the amended charge sheet was the only valid document on record and that the trial court’s reliance on the earlier version rendered its decision defective. As a result, Sonko and his co-accused will now return to the Anti-Corruption Court, where they will make submissions on whether they should be placed on their defense based on the proper, legally binding charge sheet.
The ruling reignites one of the most high-profile graft cases involving a former Nairobi County chief, signaling renewed legal battles for Sonko as the retrial process begins.