High Court rejects Waititu’s bond bid for third time in corruption suit appeal

The High Court has for the third time declined to give a bond to former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu in his appeal case over corruption.

In her ruling today, Justice Lucy Njuguna declined Waititu’s request to substitute a Sh53 million bank guarantee with a cash deposit, noting that the orders previously issued would remain in force.

“I will not vary those orders. Honestly, I did the best I could base on the material placed before me. You placed material that persuaded me, and I was gracious enough to grant those orders,” Njuguna said in her ruling.

This is even as the judge further reminded Waititu’s lawyer that the case involves other accused persons who remain in custody and had complained about delays in the proceedings.

“That’s why I gave 120 days, and for the record, the 120 days start from today. It’s on that basis that I said no more fresh applications should be made so that we concentrate on the appeal and get it out of the way,” she stated.

The former County leader who has been unable to raise the Sh53 million bank guarantee, will therefore remain in custody pending the hearing and determination of his appeal.

This comes after Justice Njuguna denied a bail to Waititu in May citing that there was insufficient evidence to warrant his release.

The former governor popularly referred to as Baba Yao has been at Kamiti Maximum Prison since then

Waititu was charged in 2019 alongside his wife, Susan Wangari and several county officials over the alleged irregular award of road construction tenders worth Sh588 million during his tenure as Kiambu governor.

The prosecution claims that companies linked to Waititu and his associates benefited from the contracts.

He was impeached in January 2020 after the Kiambu County Assembly and the Senate upheld charges of gross misconduct and abuse of office.

The criminal case has since faced numerous adjournments, with Waititu repeatedly seeking favourable bail terms.