This archive report was first published on 6 July 2020.
Published on July 6, 2020, Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has denied corruption charges, claiming the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) is on a witch hunt against him.
According to his reply filed by lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui, Sonko claims his bank accounts continue to be illegally frozen despite there being no orders or case before the court that would warrant investigators to ransack his accounts.
He claims the ARA must demonstrate to the court that he acquired illicit wealth and that blanket allegations of 'suspect funds' in his generalised bank accounts are not sufficient to issue draconian orders against him.
Sonko was charged on December 9, 2019, and January 27, 2020, with various offences including conflict of interest and money laundering.
He claims that after ARA came calling, he was not given a chance to counter the allegations before the orders were issued and that freeze orders issued by Justice Luka Kimaru on February 6, 2020, were oppressive, draconian, and harsh to him.
He also claims that while he was attending the criminal case against him on February 18, 2020, an unknown person came to the courtroom and shoved a huge bundle of documents, which contained a copy of an order dated February 6, 2020, indicating that the prayers sought by ARA had already been summarily granted.
