The Tax Appeals Tribunal has handed former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko a major reprieve after ordering the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to immediately lift agency notices freezing his bank accounts, ruling that the disputed taxes are not yet collectible until his appeal is fully heard and determined.

In the decision delivered on 14 November 2025, Tribunal Member Hon. Dr. Rodney O. Oluoch directed KRA to unfreeze Sonko’s Equity and Co-operative Bank accounts, warning that failure to comply would attract penal consequences.

The ruling grants Sonko temporary relief as his tax case proceeds.

But even as the Tribunal lifted KRA’s freeze, Equity Bank says it has been caught between contradictory orders issued by KRA and the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA), both demanding opposing actions on the same set of accounts.

According to court filings, Sonko holds five Kenya shilling accounts and one dollar account at Equity. KRA had first issued an agency notice demanding over KSh574 million in alleged unpaid taxes. ARA later claimed the same funds were proceeds of crime despite a High Court ruling by Justice Nixon Sifuna setting aside earlier preservation orders against him.

The bank now says the directives are irreconcilable and that acting on either risks violating the law. It has, therefore, sought the court’s guidance, arguing that only a judicial determination can resolve which agency’s instructions take precedence.

Sonko, through his lawyers, has also written to Equity demanding immediate access to his money, insisting that Justice Sifuna’s judgment eliminated any basis for continued freezing of the accounts.

Equity’s business development manager Gregory Akoth told the court he reached out to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for clarity. In response, EACC officer Shem Shurie said ARA had served the bank with preservation orders pending implementation of the High Court ruling. The agency cited Section 97 of POCAMLA, arguing that property subject to forfeiture remains preserved until a final decision is made.

With conflicting laws, judgments, and agency directives in play, Equity says it cannot release or maintain the freeze on Sonko’s funds without risking legal exposure. The bank now wants the court to settle the impasse once and for all.The Tribunal’s latest intervention now restores Sonko’s access to the funds pending final determination.