The High Court will today rule on an application by former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu in which he is seeking to be released from prison on bond pending hearing and determination of his appeal.
Waititu was in February jailed for 12 years following a conviction by a magistrate court in a corruption case.
He was handed an alternative fine of Sh53 million.
The former governor’s initial bid for bond flopped after it was dismissed by Justice Lucy Njuguna of the High Court's Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes division on March 3.
However, Waititu has since filed a fresh application before the same court, seeking to be released on bond pending the hearing of his appeal. His lawyers, led by Kibe Mungai, had sought leave to amend the application.
However, that bid was been opposed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. Two weeks ago, Justice Njuguna allowed Waititu’s request to amend his application for bond.
“After considering the submissions from both sides, I found that a petition of appeal may be amended with the leave of the court. The application has merit and is therefore granted,” Justice Njuguna ruled.
The ruling allowed Waititu to, in effect, put in a fresh application seeking to be released on bond pending the hearing and determination of his appeal.
In his argument to be released on bond, Waititu says he will suffer the risk of having served part of the sentence if his appeal succeeds.
The former governor says he’s prepared to pay up the Sh53.5 million fine if his appeal fails.
“It is neither fair nor logical for him to serve part of the sentence only for him to pay the fine in the event that his appeal does not succeed,” Kibe says in their affidavits.
Waititu has been in prison since February after a magistrate’s court sentenced him to 12 years in jail.
He argues that he is not a flight risk, given that he is a well-known political figure who has been in the public limelight and has a permanent abode.
