Waluke, Wakhungu fight 139 years imprisonment
The hearing of an appeal in which Sirisia Member of Parliament (MP) John Waluke and his business partner Grace Wakhungu are fighting their combined 139 years jail sentence for a fraudulent maize supply deal at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).
Appearing before Justice Esther Maina, Elisha Ongoya opened Waluke’s case by giving a chronology of events that started in 2004, following a shortage of maize in the country, which led to the corruption scandal.
The court heard that the Sh313 million payout was lawful after an arbitrator ruled in favour of their company – Erad Supplies Limited.
“The monies were paid out of court orders and paid following the due process of the law. The payment was made pursuant to an arbitration award,” Ongoya said.
Waluke’s lawyers admitted that he pocketed Sh50 million from the fraudulent maize supply deal at the NCPB 18 years ago.
However, the lawmaker wondered why the trial court ordered him to pay twice the amount lost (Sh297 million) yet he received Sh50 million.
The status of the balance of the money is unknown, though it was received by their trading company, Erad Suppliers and General Contractors Limited.
“The money was received by Erad and not Waluke. It is admitted that both Waluke and Wakhungu were directors of Erad. Out of the decretal amount that was received, Wakhungu received Sh40 million while Waluke got Sh50 million,” said lawyer Ongoya.
The state agency had breached a contract for the supply of maize which resulted in the arbitrator making an award of Sh 313 million on account of loss of profit and storage costs due to Erad.
The decision was challenged at the High Court but no order was granted to set aside the award. The matter is currently pending at the Court of Appeal.
They say there was no evidence to prove they received the money.
The duo were in June 2020 convicted of fraud involving Sh313 million in shady maize dealings with the NCPB.
Wakhungu was sentenced to 69 years in jail with an option of Sh1 billion fine and Waluke was handed a 67-year sentence with Sh1 billion fine.
The prosecution brought the fraud charges against the two on allegations that the award was based on forged documents.
But the two argued it was never identified whether that invoice was an original or fake.
“It was incumbent upon the prosecution and the investigating officer to investigate the issue of the invoice because the officer never produced what was in his opinion an original invoice to counter the same,” Ongoya said.
