Witnesses in Sonko case under State protection

The anti-graft watchdog has placed some of the witnesses lined up against Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko under witness protection. Mr Sonko is charged alongside others over the loss of Sh357 million at City Hall.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) said the witnesses will use pseudo names in their statements and will give their evidence in a closed-door session while “hiding” in a witness box for their safety.

Milimani chief magistrate Douglas Ogoti Tuesday heard that the High Court last week allowed the prosecution’s application to have the witnesses be placed under the Witness Protection Agency due to sensitivity of the matter.

EACC added that the case file has also since been placed under lock-and-key for its safety.

“We have not served the witness statements to the defence because of the order placing some witnesses under protection. We are working with the Witness Protection Agency,” said State prosecutor Ms Christine Nanjala.

Witness Protection Agency was established under the Witness Protection Act to safeguard persons with important information and who are facing a potential risk or intimidation because of their co-operation.

The development caught defence lawyers unprepared as they protested that the prosecution had failed to make them aware of the High Court application and the subsequent order.

Lawyers Cecil Miller, George Kithi, Prof Tom Ojienda and Paul Nyamodi protested that the prosecution had also failed to make full disclosure of the documentary evidence that it intends to use against Mr Sonko and his co-accused.

The case was called for mention yesterday to confirm compliance by EACC to supply the defence with documents.

The defence legal team further said EACC and the Office Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) had not furnished it with the case investigations diary.

“The quality of disclosure of evidence to the defence is low and we were supplied with unintelligent documents,” the lawyers stated.