Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji has ordered the arrest of Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko over graft and other related matters.
According to Haji, his office has enough evidence to prosecute Governor Sonko and said the governor should not resist arrest.
“Following a comprehensive investigation by EACC and upon receiving and independently reviewing the investigation file I have found sufficient evidence to warrant prosecution and I have therefore ordered for the immediate arrest and arraignment in court of Governor of Nairobi Mike Mbuvi Sonko.” Said Haji.
In a press briefing on Friday, DPP further ordered the arrest of several county employees as well as other persons of interest for receiving monies and unlawful acquisition of public property, money laundering and other economic crimes.
Governor Sonko’s case has been very challenging due to his attempts to interfere with the course of investigations as well as employing intimidation tactics including the use of goons to threaten investigating officers in the case, said DPP Haji.
“The investigations by EACC uncovered numerous instances of criminal conduct and a general disregard of the law by the governor and others in charge,”
The DPP intimated that investigations blatantly showed that the actions of Governor Sonko and the accused persons put their interests first before the interest of the residents of Nairobi.
On September 3, 2019, Sonko was grilled at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) over alleged irregularities in garbage collection tenders worth over Ksh.160 million.
The Nairobi Governor Sonko had been summoned by the commission over graft claims in the awarding of tenders in the financial years 2017/2018 and 2018/2019.
In November, EACC once again summoned Governor Sonko to avail himself at the commission’s headquarters.
The commission had sought Sonko wanting him to shed light on over 10 criminal cases that were pending at the time he was running for office in 2017.
“The Commission is investigating allegations that you provided false information to the commission in your self-declaration form dated March 9, 2017,” the letter stated.
