The High Court has declined former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu’s third attempt to secure bond relief in his ongoing Ksh 588 million corruption case. Waititu, who was convicted in February, has been serving a 12-year prison sentence or alternatively pay a fine of Ksh 53.5 million after being found guilty of failing to safeguard public funds.
Appearing before Justice Lucy Njuguna on Wednesday, Waititu’s lawyer, Chris Mutuku, requested the court to vary his client’s bond terms. The defense sought to substitute the Ksh 53 million bank guarantee bond with a cash deposit, arguing that commercial banks had refused to issue the required guarantee.
However, Justice Njuguna dismissed the plea, noting that Waititu had already made similar applications in the past. “I will not vary those orders. Honestly, I did the best I could based on the material placed before me. You placed material that persuaded me, and I was gracious enough to grant those orders,” the judge stated.
She further emphasized that continued applications risk delaying the appeal process. “That’s why I gave 120 days, and for the record, the 120 days start from today. No more fresh applications should be made so that we concentrate on the appeal and get it out of the way,” she ruled.
Mutuku told the court that his client has been under treatment at Kenyatta National Hospital and remains in custody despite previous bail orders.
In February, Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzioki had noted that Waititu’s actions while in office grossly undermined good governance. Alongside him, his wife Susan Wangare was also convicted and ordered to pay a fine of Ksh 500,000 or serve a one-year jail term.
Waititu has faced multiple graft-related cases since his impeachment in 2019, with the latest ruling reaffirming the courts’ firm stance against corruption.
