State uses Sonko’s past cases to deny him bail
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko's past criminal record has been used by Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) several times in an effort to deny him bail in the ongoing cases filed against him.
In a bid to punish Sonko after he parted ways with the government, the State has been reviving his previous records to seek his denial of bail.
When he was charged with money laundering, unlawful acquisition of public property and other economic crimes in 2019, the prosecution lifted the lid on Sonko's previous conviction and used that to appeal to the court to deny the former governor bail.
DPP had told Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti that Sonko was on March 1998 convicted for failure to appear in court in the hearing of two cases and was sentenced to pay a fine of Sh500,000 and Sh200,000 respectively or serve six months imprisonment for each.
The prosecution had argued that Sonko later escaped from lawful custody while undergoing treatment at the Coast Provincial General hospital ward number six.
His lawyers, however, vehemently opposed the application arguing that Sonko was cleared to run for a Parliamentary seat and was member of parliament for Makadara when Criminal Case No. 8635 of 2000 was going on in Kibera.
The defense produced a signal in respect for an Appeal No. 80 of 2001 which they argued had not been appealed against. They also contended that no warrants of arrest had been attached.
“There were chances to arrest the accused person , why was he not arrested when he visited Shimo la Tewa in 2011? He had been cleared to run for parliament as an MP, for the Senate and for Governor of Nairobi. They presented a police clearance certificate otherwise known as Certificate of Good Conduct to him and was also cleared by the EACC which documents they cannot renege from,” the defense had argued
DPP cited the same case conviction in the recent case in Kiambu Law courts where the ex governor was charged with forcible entry and nine counts of assault causing actual bodily harm.
While opposing his release on bail, DPP cited the same case, his political influence and that of his supporters.
“From the annextures to the affidavit, the prosecution seeks to show that the accused person escaped from ward no. 6 at Coast General Hospital way back in 1998, having been admitted there on account of illness,” the prosecution argued in Kiambu.
However in ruling of both courts, the courts dismissed the state applications and granted him bail.
Sonko had appealed against the jail term where the sentences imposed on him were quashed.
