Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko allegedly planned to travel to Tanzania on Friday, December 7, after Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji ordered for his arrest.
Daily Nation reported that the decision to arrest him was made two days before he was nabbed for allegedly embezzling over Ksh357 million.
However, on Thursday, December 6, while at his Upper Hill mansion in Nairobi, Sonko got wind of his looming arrest and made the journey towards Mombasa. He tagged along two of his closest aides Mathias Owino alias Swaleh and Peterson Kimenye aliasShaw.
The news outlet claimed that the governor and his aides switched off their phones and left behind two police officers assigned to guard him. Reports alleged that the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission was using the two officers to track his whereabout.
His lawyer Cecil Millers worked on securing anticipatory bail before being charged. The courts however declined the governor's prayers on Friday, December 6, 2019.
Sonko also tagged along an entourage of small cars to guard him and aid in avoiding detection on the highway. However, at Kibwezi, the governor briefly switched his phone and the signal was picked by detectives in Nairobi who alerted their Mombasa colleagues.
The police then set up roadblocks along Mombasa-Nairobi Highway and arrested him at a roadblock in Voi.
Detectives then called for a chopper to fly Sonko to Nairobi. The initial plan was to detain him at Standard Gauge Railway station in Voi and return him to Nairobi via train in the afternoon. His supporters, however, became rowdy at the SGR station.
He, however, denied that he was escaping, stating that he was going to attend an event in Mombasa.
"Reports from EACC that l was arrested while trying to run away are another proof that the body is so much interested in playing politics. Why would l run away? To where and to do what? I am a Kenyan who is always on the move doing what's good for the people. I was on my way to Mombasa to attend and close a workshop which was attended by my people," Sonko defended via a statement through Nairobi County Director of Communications, Jakob Elkanah.
Justice John Onyiengo declined to offer Sonko bail, a move that forced the governor to spend the weekend in police custody.
