Court Orders the Government to Unfreeze Nairobi Governor Sonko's Five Bank Accounts

A Nairobi court on Tuesday directed the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) to unfreeze five bank accounts owned by Governor Mike Sonko with immediate effect.

In her ruling, Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku noted that the orders ARA used to freeze Sonko’s bank accounts last year had expired and the agency failed to seek an extension.

"The agency was riding on expired court orders. It should have approached the court for the extension as required by the law upon expiry of the December orders," magistrate Mutuku ruled.

The ruling was made after Sonko, through his lawyers Harrison Kinyanjui, Cecil Miller and George Kithi, filed an application to challenge the continued freezing of his bank accounts even after the period sought by ARA elapsed.

In the application, Sonko lamented that he could not support himself or his family after ARA placed an embargo on his accounts.

ARA had in December last year obtained court orders to freeze Sonko’s bank accounts over the alleged suspicious cash transactions that the agency believed to be proceeds of crime “as a result of theft from Nairobi County Government”. The agency told the court that it had information that on October 5th, 2019, the said accounts received suspicious deposits.

Sonko was in December 2019 charged with corruption over the alleged misappropriation of county funds totaling Sh357 million. He denied the charges and is out on bond but was barred from accessing his office until the case is heard and determined.