A former senior Nairobi County finance officer has told an anti-corruption court on Monday that plans to remove former Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko from office were hatched at State House in 2018.
Chief Finance Officer for Economic Development, Allan Esabwa Igambi, testified before Chief Magistrate Charles Ondieki that he was summoned to State House, where he was allegedly advised to implicate Sonko in corruption-related dealings.
“I was called to State House and told to find a way of fixing Sonko in corruption matters so that he could be removed from office,” Igambi told the court.
He said that during Sonko’s tenure, essential county functions, including road transport, health services, and education, were transferred from the Nairobi County Government to the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), a move he claimed crippled the county’s revenue base.
“The transfer of those services to NMS was done by the national government. It was intended to deny the county government sufficient revenue to deliver services to the people of Nairobi,” Igambi said.
According to Igambi, the transfer ceremony was attended by former President Uhuru Kenyatta, symbolizing the official takeover of key functions from the county administration.
While being led in his defence testimony by lawyer Asa Nyakundi, Igambi maintained that Sonko had no direct role in managing county finances or revenue collection, insisting that such responsibilities were handled by specific officers within the respective departments.
“Sonko, as the governor, did not control or handle county finances. Those duties were performed by authorized officers,” he said.
The testimony formed part of the defence case for Sonko, who is charged alongside businessman Jamal Ombok in a Sh20 million corruption case.
Magistrate Ondieki directed that the hearing will continue on February 2, 2026, when further defence witnesses are expected to testify.
