Mike Sonko has secured another court victory after the Kiambu Court acquitted him of assault in a case that originated from a 2019 raid on a private property in Nairobi’s Buruburu Phase Four estate.
The former Nairobi Governor and other suspects faced accusations of forcibly and violently entering the property of Landmark International Properties Limited and assaulting nine individuals. Sonko faced ten charges, including forcible entry and nine counts of assault.
Sonko was initially brought before the court in 2021, and charged with one count of forcible entry and nine counts of assault causing bodily harm.
The charges stemmed from the incident on May 25, 2019, at 2 pm in Buruburu Phase Four, Kamukunji. It was alleged that he, along with others not present in court, forcibly and violently entered land number LR Nairobi block 78/8, the property of Landmark International Properties.
Additionally, he faced multiple charges of assault causing actual bodily harm. The accusation suggested that on the same day in May 2019, he led a group of individuals in assaulting nine men, resulting in actual bodily harm to them.
The court heard that Sonko, then the Nairobi Governor, left his City Hall office and proceeded to Buruburu Phase Four, accompanied by youths whose actions, influenced by his statements, led to the commission of the offenses.
Sonko pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on a Kes.300,000 bond, with a surety of the same amount.
During Monday’s case directions, the prosecutor informed the court that they did not oppose the complainants’ request to withdraw the case.
Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Ooko then officially closed the case.
“From complaint number one all the way to number 10, the application to have the matter withdrawn reasons advance which has not been opposed, I allow the same as prayed. I have also discharged the accused’s surety,” Ooko directed.
“The matter is marked as closed,” he added.
Sonko’s acquittal on Monday comes a month after he and 16 others were acquitted in a case involving the alleged misappropriation of funds amounting to Kes.357 million that belonged to the Nairobi county government.
