Sonko to appear in court today over polls chaos claims

Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko will Tuesday morning be presented in court as detectives seek more time to hold him over his claims on the 2017 election chaos.

Sonko recently alleged that he and Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho were involved in planning the hooliganism witnessed during the disputed poll.

The former governor Monday presented himself to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters after spending the entire morning chasing after a court order to stop detectives from questioning him, but in vain.

His lawyer, John Khaminwa, said the High Court dismissed the application filed in the morning, forcing the former governor to honour the summons.

Sought court order

Sonko wanted the court to issue an order against the decision of Assistant Inspector-General of Police and DCI head of Investigations John Kariuki from summoning him to record statements on the 2017 poll chaos.

In his application, the politicians had claimed that the DCI summons was a mere ploy to lure him into police arrest.

After failing in that attempt, the former governor made a quiet entry into the Mazingira complex without his usual charade, accompanied by his lawyers and sat quietly waiting to be ushered in minutes after arriving.

The Nation has learned that besides the two charges that the DCI is investigating him for, the former governor is likely to face seven counts of robbery with violence and five counts of assault for incidents that were investigated by the DCI in Buruburu.

Violence claims

In his DCI date, the flamboyant politician was expected to shed light on claims he made at a public rally that together with Mr Kibicho, they planned violence in Nairobi.

But in the court papers, Sonko said that at the rally, he did not make any utterances that could be construed to mean that he was inciting anybody to commit violence.

"My comments at the rally could not be construed as undermining a public officer for my comments were to reveal to the public that Kibicho and I had committed criminal acts in the past," says Sonko.

He wanted the court to make an order directing President Kenyatta to constitute a commission of inquiry into the violence.

"The fears of Sonko are grounded on retribution that Kibicho intends to mete out on the applicant as punishment for comments he made in a public rally on January 24, 2021 in which comments Sonko revealed that Kibicho committed criminal acts in the year 2017 after the General Elections for the sole aim of tarnishing the name and image of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM)," reads the court documents.

‘Whistle-blower’

Mr Khaminwa said Sonko, following the utterances he made in public, considers himself to be a whistle-blower.

Mr Kariuki's summons was served on Sonko by more than 30 police officers inside the premises of the Milimani Law Courts after hearing of one of the multiple corruption cases facing him.

The lawyer said the manner of service was cruel, inhuman and a degrading treatment of Sonko and an act deliberately designed to intimidate and grossly humiliate him.

He further argued that the summon is grounded on Section 132 of the Penal Code which was declared unconstitutional by the High Court in 2017 in a case that involved blogger Robert Alai and the Attorney-General.

"Kariuki and the Inspector-General of the National Police Service cannot be relied upon to be impartial for the said requisition makes references to the offence of undermining the authority of a public officer which can only be read to mean the comments that Sonko made against Kibicho," said Mr Khaminwa.

He added that any investigation made by Mr Kariuki against Sonko would be biased and be prejudicial.

Exercising his rights

By publicly disclosing the information on poll chaos at a public venue, the lawyer said Sonko was exercising his rights and fundamental freedoms of assembly.

"The petitioner’s comments are in the public interest as they touch on matters of leadership and good governance by Kibicho and the values of leadership and integrity espoused in Chapter Six of the Constitution," said the lawyer.

A detective privy to the interrogations Monday said one of the reasons why the governor would spend the night in custody is his delay in honouring the summons that had been slotted for 8am.

“He came in late and we are not even halfway done with interrogating him, I’m not sure if this will end soon,” the detective said.