The Milimani Anti-Corruption Court was on Tuesday told that no public funds were lost in the corruption case facing former Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko, a development that significantly strengthened the defence’s position.
Appearing as a prosecution witness, Steve Ogola, an advocate representing JamboPay and WebTribe founder Danson Muchemi, testified that neither the original nor the amended charge sheet established any loss of public money. Ogola explained that both charge sheets were defective, a factor that ultimately led the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to drop charges against his client.
Crucially, Ogola confirmed under oath that Muchemi never lodged any complaint against Sonko, directly contradicting the premise upon which the case was initially built. He told the court that the manner in which the charges were framed made them legally unsustainable.
Ogola’s testimony came a day after Sonko formally applied to have him summoned alongside Tusca Opondo, the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) at Capitol Hill Police Station. Through his advocate Asa Nyakundi, Sonko argued that both witnesses possessed critical material evidence necessary to explain how the investigations were conducted, how the charge sheets were prepared, and how cooperation documents were generated.
The defence maintained that Ogola’s confirmation that no public funds were lost fatally weakened the prosecution’s case, which hinges on allegations of conflict of interest and procurement irregularities.
Sonko also took the stand before Charles Ondieki, the trial magistrate, where he gave sworn testimony denying all allegations against him. He dismissed claims of conflict of interest and irregular procurement during his tenure at City Hall, insisting that he neither initiated nor renewed the JamboPay revenue collection contract.
According to Sonko, the contract was a legacy arrangement inherited from a previous Nairobi City County administration. He told the court that his focus as governor was on modernising revenue collection systems and sealing loopholes that enabled corruption.
In support of his testimony, Sonko presented video evidence and cited past interventions against alleged land grabbing in areas such as Kamukunji and Loresho, portraying himself as a long-standing anti-corruption crusader.
The case has rekindled broader debate around legacy contracts, procurement accountability, and governance within county governments, particularly where new administrations inherit long-standing agreements.
Sonko was initially charged in January 2020 with conflict of interest and related offences linked to the alleged irregular award of a revenue collection services contract for Nairobi City County. The charges were amended in September 2020, and the prosecution closed its case in July 2022.
In December 2022, the trial court acquitted Sonko, ruling that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. However, the prosecution appealed, and the High Court later held that the trial magistrate had erred by relying on the original charge sheet instead of the amended one when determining whether Sonko had a case to answer.
The matter was subsequently remitted back to the trial court for a fresh determination based on the amended charges. On January 20, 2025, Magistrate Ondieki ruled that Sonko had a case to answer and placed him on his defence. The defence hearing commenced in May 2025, with Sonko appearing as the 21st defence witness.
Proceedings are ongoing as the court continues to hear defence testimonies and evaluate whether the prosecution has established a sustainable case in the absence of any demonstrated loss of public funds.
