Retired Magistrate Defends Ex-Governor Sonko in Ksh 20M Graft Case
The former magistrate said he tried Savla when he was serving as a magistrate at the Mombasa Law Courts.
A retired magistrate has testified in defence of former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, who is being tried in a Ksh 20 million graft case.
Henry Nyakweva, who retired as a senior principal magistrate, told anti-corruption magistrate Charles Ondieki that he had tried a case in which Sonko had sued a businessman, Praful Kumar Premchand Savla, who had bribed him with Ksh 7 million to allow him to approve the construction of a property in Nairobi.
Nyakweva told the magistrate that Sonko was fighting corruption when he served as the Nairobi governor.
The former magistrate said he tried Savla when he was serving as a magistrate at the Mombasa Law Courts.
He produced the charge sheet in which Sonko was the complainant.
“Do you wish to produce this charge sheet? You tried Savla for the offence of corruption when you served at the Mombasa Law Courts?” Lawyer Assa Nyakundi, representing Sonko, asked.
“Yes I wish to present the charge sheet in defence of Sonko,” the former magistrate admitted.
In this case, Savla was charged with three counts of giving a bribe to the former city boss.
He said the charges were that on August 20, 2018, at Kanamai in Kikambala, within Kilifi county, being a proprietor of Grand Manor in Nairobi, he offered a financial advantage of Ksh 5 million to Sonko when he was the governor of Nairobi to facilitate the approval of construction on a parcel of land LR 91/239.
Nyakweva told the court that he was transferred from Mombasa to Embu before the graft case against Savla was concluded,
“Is all that you would wish to say as far as this matter is concerned?” “Yes that is all I have to say,” Nyakweva answered.
Earlier in the day, a police officer, Chief Inspector Kisorio Kiptoo, played a voice recording of JamboPay proprietor Danson Muchemi in which he was heard claiming that former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero had allegedly acquired seven billion in five years and that he could assist Sonko to get 5 million in a day.
The recording was played for one hour in court.
The hearing will proceed on July 21, 2025.
