BY JOE MODIE
He that lies with dogs shall rise up with fleas. Anyone who plans to have any dealings with impeached Nairobi governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko should have this statement played, on repeat mode, in their ears at very high decibels.
Already those that have dealt with Sonko are busy scraping off the pesky insects from their bodies at a very high cost. The latest victim is a judge of the High Court, who probably thought that due to the position he occupies, he would be immune to Sonko’s surreptitious recordings.
On Tuesday morning Kenyans woke up to grave corruption allegations being levelled against Justice Juma Chitembwe, on Sonko’s Facebook page.
The video titled ‘The rot in the Kenyan Judiciary’, must have caused indigestion to many within the corridors of justice. While the allegations remain unproven, they will most certainly come with serious consequence.
In the videos, a man claiming to be Justice Chitembwe’s brother, is captured by supposed Sonko’s associates alleging that the judge had appointed him to receive proceeds of alleged corruption on his behalf.
Sonko also reproduces an affidavit allegedly authorising the man to be a proxy nominee of the judge, in a matter where the judge is supposed to receive sh100 million arising from a land case that he had presided over.
“I have been authorised to collect Ksh100 million on behalf of Honourable Justice Chitembwe in the sale of the property where I am the registered owner but nominee of Honourable Justice Chitembwe, who could not have put his name due to conflict of interest, having delivered the said judgement,” reads parts of the affidavit.
The man going by the name Amana Saidi Chitembwe is recorded claiming that he represents the interests of Justice Chitembwe and goes on to allege that the judge is aware of the meeting, where he signs the affidavit to be receive the sh100 million.
That is not all, the video also purportedly shows the judge in his residence talking about how judges engage in what might be called justice for sale, receiving payment ‘for services rendered’ in the corridors of justice. This is explosive stuff, likely to take down careers.
The release of the Sonko video appears to coincide with the swearing in of Ann Kananu Mwenda as the governor of Nairobi, thereby shutting off all avenues of Sonko’s return to the seat he won in the 2017 election. In the post Sonko alleges that his appeal to challenge Kananu’s swearing in was somehow made to disappear from the cause list, thereby paving way for the swearing in.
“In as much as I accepted the Supreme Court’s decision allowing the swearing in…this is the other side of the story. If I as Mike Mbuvi Sonko, a validly elected and substantively serving Governor of Nairobi, can be denied justice, how about the ordinary Kenyan?” asks Sonko in the post.
From the post, it appears that Sonko’s wrath has been aroused by the swearing in of Kananu, with Justice Chitembwe as collateral damage. How else does he tie the swearing in of the Nairobi governor to a land case in far-away Kwale?
Still, it is not clear how the former governor got entangled in the land deal to a point where he is overseeing a process where the judge is allegedly being ‘bought off’ to the tune on sh100 million to relinquish his ‘stake’ in a land deal?
Like we said at the beginning of this story, it is only a fool that willingly submits themselves to deal with Sonko, given his reputation for recording every ‘deal’. Clearly, it would seem that Sonko has a lot of dirt on people he deals with. This maybe he is way of buying himself insurance.
From the look of things, he has made himself enemies in high places. What if these aggrieved parties decided to hut back; how safe is he?
Lakini yote tisa, the judiciary does not come out smelling of roses.