Controversial Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has lost his bid to stop the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) from amending the charge sheet of the Sh14 million corruption case.
The court allowed DPP to amend the charges yesterday to reflect the sources of the funds Sonko and his co-accused embezzled. “The DPP stated the funds came from Nairobi County Government which was not included in the earlier charge sheet filed last December,” Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Ooko ruled. The magistrate established that governor and his co-accused will not suffer any prejudice if the amended charge sheet is admitted since there is no new witnesses will be introduced.
Governor Sonko is charged alongside Mr Fredrick Odhiambo alias Fred Oyugi trading of Yiro Enterprises Limited, Antony Otieno Ombok and ROG Securities Ltd.
In the amended sheet Sonko is accused of having conflicting interests after he meddled into the awarding tenders at the city hall for kickbacks. The court was told that the flashy governor received kickbacks amounting to Sh8.4 million from ROG Security Ltd through Anthony Otieno between December 27 and 28, 2018. This is after he awarded a contract to his proxies who leased heavy equipment to Nairobi county.
The tender was awarded to Yiro Enterprises Ltd by receiving Sh8.4 million from Mr Fredrick Odhiambo. In the new charge sheet, Sonko is also charged jointly with Mr Odhiambo, Mr Otieno and ROG Security Ltd. DPP accused them of money laundering and conspiring to commit an offence of corruption through the 'heavy equipment contract' where the county lost Sh14 million from the Nairobi County Government.
The three denied the charges but the magistrate overruled his request saying the law allows the DPP to amend the charge sheet against a suspect before the conclusion of the trial. He quoted Articles 50, 157, 159 and Section 213 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) that mandates DPP to charge and prosecute suspects in criminal cases.