Court grants DPP time to file appeal against Sonko

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Nordin Haji was yesterday granted 30 days to file the main appeal against a magistrate’s decision to acquit former Governor Mike Sonko and his co-accused Antony Ombok Jamal in a Sh20 million corruption case.

Anti-Corruption High Court Judge Esther Maina yesterday gave the DPP a month to enable him file the record of appeal so that the case can be fixed for hearing.

Typed proceedings

The directive came after Haji through his assistant Judy Thongori and James Kihara sought to be granted more time to file the entire record of appeal saying the delay had been occasioned by the failure to get the typed proceedings of the lower court in good time.

Sonko’s lawyers led by Assa Nyakundi did not oppose the DPP’s request for extension of time.

“Your honor, we are not objecting to the request by the state. For sure the lower court proceedings are very lengthy since the case took over four years before the trial court. We can have the matter mentioned in two months,” Nyakundi stated.

Haji lodged the appeal at the High Court after Sonko and Jamal were acquitted by the Anti-Corruption Court on December 21,2023 on grounds that the charges were defective and the prosecution failed to prove the charges against them.