Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu has suffered a setback after the High Court dismissed his application to review a 12-year imprisonment sentence imposed by a lower court earlier this year over corruption-related offences.
Justice Lucy Njuguna dismissed the plea by Mr Waititu following an objection by the Director of Public Prosecutions, who argued that the application lacked proper grounds.
Waititu sought to overturn the trial court’s decision to convict and sentence him on grounds that the magistrate erred. But the judge declined the application, affirming that the sentence will stand while his appeal is being processed.
The judge further directed that the appeal be concluded within four months, warning that any delays on the part of the former governor could lead to the case being struck out.
The former Governor was sentenced in February this year alongside four others to a fine of Sh53.5 million or serve 12 years in prison for receiving kickbacks from businessman Charles Chege Mbuthia, director of Testimony Enterprises Ltd, in 2019.
In its sentence, the anti-corruption court found that he failed to uphold the principles of good governance and safeguard public funds after irregularly receiving Sh25 million from Testimony Enterprises following the award of a flawed tender.
The trial court condemned Waititu for engaging in self-enrichment endeavors and failing to demonstrate servant leadership as Governor.
He was also barred from contesting for any political position for a period of seven years. The court found him guilty of a conflict of interest involving a Sh588 million road construction tender issued by the Kiambu County Government to Testimony Enterprises in 2018.
The trial court found that the tender was issued fraudulently and illegally since the project had not been approved by the County Government Executive Committee.
“The Prosecution has established that Testimony Enterprises Limited won the tender in question by deceit and procurement fraud with the aid of Eng. Luka Mwangi and the Tender Evaluation Committee. In the circumstances, Eng. Luka Mwangi and Mr Charles Chege joined the rank of the first two architects of the corruption scheme, which is the subject of the present case," said the magistrate's court.
The other convicts were Chege and Waititu’s spouses, Beth Wangechi and Susan Wangari, respectively.
It stated that the sentence was intended to deter and protect the community from the loss occasioned by the convicts' fraudulent actions.
The Prosecution proved its case and pinned the accused persons in the corruption scheme through 32 witnesses and 129 documentary exhibits.
Waititu served as Kiambu Governor from 2017 until his impeachment in 2020 over corruption allegations.
The High Court appeal is scheduled for mention on October 1, 2025.
The case represents one of Kenya's highest-profile corruption prosecutions under the current administration's anti-graft drive.
