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Denied: Waititu suffers another court blow
Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu will stay longer in prison after the High Court dismissed his application to be released on bond, pending his appeal.
Waititu was ordered to pay a fine of Sh53.5 million or serve a jail term of 12 years after he was found guilty of receiving more than Sh25 million in kickbacks from a road contractor during his tenure as Kiambu County boss.
Justice Lucy Njuguna on Monday dismissed his appeal to be released on bond, saying Waititu alongside Charles Chege and Mwangi Wahinya did not provide reasonable legal issues to warrant be freed on bond pending appeal.
The judge agreed with the Director of Public Prosecutions DPP Renson Ingonga, through Victor Owiti, Vincent Monda and Faith Mwila, that there were no valid legal issues raised by the three appellants to warrant the court's intervention.
Justice Njuguna said the medical grounds advanced by Waititu were not sufficient for the court to grant him bail. The judge added that there were medical facilities in prison to address his health challenges.
"Having perused the grounds of appeal and the issues raised in the application, this court is not satisfied that appellant's warrant to be granted bond at this stage," Justice Njuguna ruled.
Hearing of appeal
With the bond denied, the judge directed the defence and prosecution teams to file written submissions for hearing of the appeal in two months.
"This appeal will be first-tracked and the convicts will not have served a substantial period of their jail terms. The bail application is, therefore, dismissed," she ruled.
Mr Chege was slapped with a Sh295 million fine or in default to serve 11 years in prison, while Mr Wahinya was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment or pay a fine of Sh21 million.
While arguing to be released on bond, Waititu had said he needed urgent medical attention due to severe high blood pressure. He said the condition required constant care and it could worsen is he remained in prison.
In his appeal, Waititu faulted the trial magistrate for not fully analysing the evidence presented by the prosecution.
It was his argument that the prosecution failed to meet the required standard of proof and that the trial court disregarded contradictions in the prosecution's case. He also argued that key witnesses were not called to testify.
"The prosecution had failed to establish their case to the required standard of beyond a reasonable doubt," the appeal papers state.
Waititu’s defence team asserts that the court failed to appreciate contradictions in the evidence presented, which created reasonable doubt about his involvement in the alleged crimes.
Additionally, he contends that the trial court did not properly weigh the evidence presented by both the prosecution and the defence.
He further argues that the trial court did not give sufficient attention to his testimony or provide due analysis of his defence.
"The trial court erred in law and in fact by failing to subject the evidence of the prosecution to a test of credibility and admissibility," the appeal states.