The Court of Appeal of Kenya has rejected an application by the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) seeking to block former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko from accessing more than Ksh.500 million held in his bank accounts.
ARA had requested the appellate court to suspend the implementation of a High Court ruling delivered in October 2025, pending the outcome of its appeal. The earlier High Court decision had lifted orders that froze Sonko’s accounts, allowing him to access the funds.
In the judgment delivered on October 1, 2025, Justice Nixon Sifuna ruled that the agency had not presented adequate evidence to prove that the money in question was acquired through criminal activity. As a result, the court directed that the preserved funds be released.
In his ruling, Justice Sifuna noted that the material placed before the court did not sufficiently demonstrate that the funds identified by the agency, which were held in various accounts belonging to Sonko, constituted proceeds of crime. He therefore concluded that there was no legal justification to forfeit the money to the government.
The judge also discharged the preservation orders that had been issued on February 6, 2020, effectively lifting the freeze and directing that the funds be released immediately, unless lawfully held for any other valid reason.
The appellate court’s decision not to grant a stay means that the High Court’s orders remain operational, and Sonko is free to access the money for now.
The case revolves around funds that were frozen during investigations conducted by ARA under the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act (POCAMLA). Unless the Court of Appeal overturns the High Court’s findings in a future ruling on the substantive appeal, the accounts will remain unfrozen.
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