Former Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko has sought to absolve himself from any wrongdoing in the contentious Web Tribe/JamboPay contract, insisting that his administration rejected the renewal of the deal inherited from past regimes.
During Monday’s hearing at the Anti-Corruption Court in Nairobi, Sonko’s defense argued that the Nairobi County Government was under no legal or administrative obligation to adopt legacy systems from the defunct City Council. The court heard that the JamboPay e-payment platform, operated by Web Tribe, was first contracted by the now-defunct Nairobi City Council long before Sonko took office.
Former County Attorney Lydia Kwamboka, testifying as a defense witness, confirmed that Web Tribe had indeed been engaged by the previous administration to handle revenue collection through an electronic payment platform. She clarified that her role as County Attorney was limited to offering legal advisory services in civil matters and did not extend to criminal investigations or prosecutions.
“No legal action was taken against the company during my tenure because my office did not have the mandate to institute criminal proceedings,” she told the court.
The defense also produced audio recordings of conversations between Sonko and a former ICT County Executive Committee Member. In one of the clips, Sonko is heard firmly instructing his team to abandon JamboPay, declaring that Nairobi would not inherit the “problems of the past.”
“I don’t want to hear the issue of JamboPay. Let’s move to a new system. Nairobi must not inherit corruption or inefficiency from previous administrations,” Sonko said in the recording.
He further lamented that the system had been in use for “over 20 years” and was frequently being interfered with, alleging that some individuals were deliberately switching it off to sabotage service delivery.
“Do your job and do the right thing,” Sonko is heard urging his officials in the clip.
Former Finance CEC Allan Esabwa Igambi, who also testified in Sonko’s defense, told the court that he was in charge of processing payments to service providers, including Web Tribe. He revealed that at one point, a former Solicitor General had allegedly asked him to “find something to incriminate the governor,” but he declined to comply.
“I was told to look for anything that could implicate the governor. I said I would check, but I never acted on it,” Igambi testified.
Sonko’s lawyers maintained that the former governor’s administration was committed to building a more transparent and modernized revenue collection system, distancing itself from past deals tainted by allegations of corruption.
The case, which also involves Sonko’s co-accused Anthony Otieno Ombok and ROG Security Limited, stems from graft-related charges linked to procurement and revenue collection systems at City Hall.
Earlier this year, the court ruled that the three have a case to answer. The matter will proceed to defense hearing next year
