Sonko, co-accused to face substituted graft charges
Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and two others are on Monday next week expected to face fresh charges in the Sh357 million graft case against them after the prosecution substituted an earlier charge sheet with a new one yesterday.
The new development comes after an Anti-Corruption Chief magistrate Douglas Ogoti allowed an application by the defence team led by lawyer Cecil Miller to be given more time to seek instructions from their clients on the new charge sheet filed in court by the office of the DPP.
The new charge sheet which the court allowed the prosecution to amend includes an abuse of office charge against the governor and ROG Security Limited and its director Antony Otieno Ombok, alias Jamal.
In the amended charge sheet Sonko, in count one, is charged alongside ROG Security Limited and Ombok of conspiring to commit an offence of corruption namely abuse of office by extorting Sh10 million as an inducement to facilitate payments to Web tribe limited by Nairobi county government in January 2019.
The embattled Nairobi governor is also charged with another count of conflict of interest where knowingly acquired an indirect private interest in a contract with a public body to wit a contract for supply, implementation and maintenance of electronic revenue collection and payments issued by Nairobi county to Web Tribe by receiving Sh10 million from the firm through ROG Security Limited.
Sonko and his co-accused person are facing other charges of money laundering, abuse of office and acquisition of proceeds of crime.
In February this year the prosecution in the same case removed three names of accused persons of Danson Muchemi, Zablon Onyango and Webtribe Limited thereby leaving Sonko and two others.
However the DPP through state counsel Wesley Nyamache also out the possibility of a plea bargain, saying that they have not been approached by the defence.
“Our office will not be offering plea bargaining in the case at this stage as the accused persons have not yet approached our boss Noordin Haji on the same,” said Nyamache.
This is after Ogoti last week during a pre-trial conference, encouraged parties in the Sh357 million corruption case involving Sonko to consider plea bargaining the case proceeds to full hearing.
