Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has filed a petition to bar two judges from presiding over his Ksh357 million graft case.
According to Sonko’s legal team, the governor wants High Court judges Mumbi Ngugi, Grace Ngenye and John Onyiengo to recuse themselves from the highly publicised case.
This appears to be a coy move by the embattled county head, to avoid meeting his Kiambu and Samburu counterparts Ferdinand Waititu and Moses Lenolkulal’s fate, after the two were charged before the judges in their respective graft cases.
Justice Ngugi presided over the hearing of Lenolkula’s case, ruling to lock him out of office as investigations into his case continue, as did Justice Ngenye in Waititu’s corruption case.
This is despite the flashy Nairobi leader already having been barred from office by chief magistrate Douglas Ogoti.
According to Sonko’s team, the judges acted unfairly in locking elected leaders out of office, on the basis of corruption charges.
To this effect, Sonko also wants Magistrate Ogoti’s ruling overturned.
On the issue of Justice Onyieko, Sonko expressed conflict of interest concerns, as he is currently handling anti-corruption division matters.
