Flashing money in bundles like pieces of papers is what sonko does all day long. How much money can one have to give it out like that without the source running dry? Who can really compete with him? Watch out Evans Kidero, 2017 will be the mother of all battles and as Raila says,it will be a tsumani.
Court orders unfreezing of Sonko’s bank accounts
Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on Tuesday got a reprieve after a court ordered Asset Recovery Agency(ARA) to unfreeze frozen his five banks accounts.
In her ruling Milimani Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku dismissed ARA application saying the move by the agency to continuing using an illegal order that lapsed on December 23,2019 to freeze Sonko’s bank accounts was done in bad faith.
“The continued freezing of the accounts will be highly prejudicial to the holders of the accounts and I therefore, direct the unfreezing of the accounts by the agency. The application by the Governor is allowed and earlier application by the asset recovery is hereby dismissed”, ruled Mutuku.
The magistrate said that some of the bank accounts does not even belong to Governor himself but to the people alleged to be associated with him and the continued freezing of the said bank accounts is prejudicial to Governor and others.
This is after Sonko’s five bank accounts were frozen in December 2019 by agency following claims of suspicious money transactions believed to be proceeds of crime “as a result of theft from Nairobi county government’.
Also frozen are accounts held in the name of Antony Mwaura, Rose Njeri, Toddy Engineering Company Limited, Hardi Enterprises Limited and Brigit Wamaitha.
The accounts are held at KCB, Equity Bank, Cooperative Bank, Credit Bank, Sidian Bank, National Bank, Bank of Africa, I&M Bank and Diamond Trust Bank.
Mwaura and his wife Njeri were charged alongside Sonko in the Sh357 million garbage collection tender.
In the contract, Sonko is alleged to have received millions in kickbacks wired through proxies to his bank accounts.
Mutuku further said that it was great violation of Sonko’s rights by the agency for proceeding to rely on a lapsed order that has no basis in law.
The Magistrate noted that the agency was granted a period of 14 days with an option to extend these orders from December 23 ,2019 pursuant to inter parties hearing but for whatever reason the agency did not seek for the orders to be extended as required by the law.
“The orders lapsed automatically by December 23,2019 and as such the agency had no legal basis to rely on the said order as they didn’t not seek further orders from the court or seek nor didn’t they seek for the said money to be preserved”, ruled Mutuku.
The court said the agency didn’t not honor the order to appear for inter parties hearing on December 23.
ARA had asked for the freeze order and access to the accounts to carry out investigations.
Also sought by the agency are certified copies of account opening documents, statements of account from January 2017 to date, cheque/cash deposit slips/ withdrawal slips and RTGs, among other things.
The agency had told the court that it received information on October 5, 2019, that the accounts received suspicious deposits believed to be proceeds of crime.
But Sonko through Harrison Kinyanjui challenged the orders says there is no evidence showing that monies held in his bank account are proceeds of crime and as a result, the order by the Asset Recovery AGencyo freeze his accounts hampers his family life.
Source-https://peopledaily.digital/
