Sophie Njoka @PeopleDailyKe
Nairobi Senator Mike Mbuvi Sonko is facing fresh hurdles after it emerged that he has four pending criminal cases whose files cannot be traced at the Mombasa Law Courts.
The senator, who recently won the Jubilee nominations for the Nairobi governor race, has active warrants of arrest against him by the court, according to Mombasa chief magistrate Evans Makori. Makori said the warrants of arrest are still active and the court registrar is retracing the missing files before a decision can be made.
The cases were filed in 1997 and 1998 and a warrant of arrest had been issued by Resident Magistrate Mugambi Mbaabu against Sonko on April 16, 1998 but police did not arrest him. Sonko had been charged with four counts relating to the offence of obtaining money by false pretence, stealing goods, handling stolen properties and forgery.
He was released on unknown amount of bond but he absconded from court. However, only the warrant of arrest can be traced in the court register. “The warrants of arrest were issued a long time but I can confirm that though the files were closed, the warrant of arrest remain in force once the complainant in the matter is able to come out and pursue the cases,” said a senior judicial officer who sought anonymity.
The complainant through Kenga and Company Advocates had written to the court on April 11, 2017 seeking to have files of the four cases with an aim of reviving the matter but the files cannot been traced.
According to the letter dated April 21, this year and signed by officer in charge of chief magistrates criminal registry Ali Abubakar, the Chief magistrate wrote a reply letter to Kenga & Company Advocates stating four criminal cases files No. 950/1997, 951/1997, 630/1998 and 976/1998 relating to Mbuvi Gedion Kioko Kivanguli are still being traced.
However, William Kenga, a senior partner at the law firm, said he was not aware of any such inquiry from his office.“I have not written such a letter to any judicial officer and I don’t have any case relating to Sonko,” said Kenga.
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