Former Nairobi County governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko wants the state to stop bringing out his 2001 case which was quashed by the high court as one of the reasons to deny him bail and keep him behind bars.
Sonko claims the prosecution always wants to resurrect the criminal cases against him and claims that he escaped from Shimo La Tewa Prison.
Sonko, who is currently in hospital, while awaiting hearing of a miscellaneous application over alleged terrorism charges said the case was quashed by Justice Samuel Oguk in 2001 and that the objective of resurrecting the cases is to extinguish his political career as opposed to prosecuting cases for public interest.
He said he served his prison term at Shimo La Tewa, but the state always brings up the matter whenever they want to harass him.
Sonko’s political influence and that of his supporters has also been used by the state to intimidate him especially while opposing bails against him.
The case was cited by the prosecution while opposing his release when he was charged with corruption before a Milimani law court and again when the prosecution opposed his release on bail before a Kiambu court when he was charged with assault among other charges.
The State has on several occasions mentioned his strong political influence and conduct of thousands of his supporters as another reason to deny him bail saying he mayn jump bail.
And when he released him on bail in 2019, Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti warned him that he risked the cancelation of his bail terms if he does not restrain his supporters from causing chaos.
According to the prosecution, Sonko was convicted in March 1998 for failure to appear in court for the hearing of two cases and was sentenced to pay a fine of Sh500,000 and Sh200,000 respectively or serve six months imprisonment for each case.
The Prosecution argued that Sonko later escaped from lawful custody while undergoing treatment at the Coast Provincial General hospital ward, number six.
However both Millimani and Kiambu courts dismissed the state applications and stated that Sonko appealed against the jail term in appeal No. 80 of 2001 and the sentences imposed on him were quashed by the late Justice Oguk.
Since his arrest two weeks ago, Sonko has been put under tight security and escorted to various courts under tight security, a treatment not meted to other governors who have fallen out with the government and are facing similar of even more serious charges like murder.
