This archive report was first published on 30 June 2020.
On June 30, 2020, Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko's Upper Hill office was raided by armed police officers in an operation that has left the governor's supporters reeling.
The raid, which was carried out as part of an eviction order, targeted the private office of Governor Sonko, who has been using the property as his campaign headquarters and the operation center for the Sonko Rescue Team for the last ten years.
The property, which is located in the upmarket Upper Hill area, was reportedly acquired by Sonko's family for Sh498.5 million in 2019, with a deposit of Sh144.6 million made as the first installment of the sale agreement.
However, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) launched investigations into the property in early 2019, terming it illegally acquired. The commission claimed that it was investigating where Governor Sonko got the sum to buy the property.
Responding to the allegations, Governor Sonko denied any wrongdoing, stating that he acquired the property through the required legal procedures and that the investigations were malicious and meant to intimidate him over his position on the transfer of functions to the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).
'I believe that the reports and alleged probe is malicious and maybe a move to intimidate me to go slow on some of the political and legal decisions I have taken in the last few weeks, specifically, my position on the transfer of functions to the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) and refusal to assent the Supplementary Appropriations Bill, 2020 into law,' he said.
