The High Court has dismissed former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu's second application for his release on bail awaiting the determination of an appeal on a graft case.
In a ruling delivered by Justice Lucy Njuguna on Thursday, May 8, the court declined the former governor's application on the grounds that his request lacked merit.
"I am not persuaded and in respect to the present application and for the reasons this court has given, it holds a strong view that the application lacks merit and is hereby dismissed,” Justice Njuguna said.
The court ruling means Waititu and his two co-accused would remain in custody pending the hearing of their appeal on the Ksh588 million graft case.
Justice Njuguna's move to reject Waititu's bail application comes barely a month after she rejected a similar request from the former governor's legal team.
On March 26, the judge declined a similar application on the basis that the applicant did not convince the court that his appeal had a high chance of success.
Justice Njuguna also dismissed a request from Waitutu's legal team that the former governor ought to be released from prison owing to his ill health.
"It is my finding that the applicants have not met the conditions for bail. The applications are hereby dismissed," Justice Njuguna ruled in March.
Waititu has been in jail at Kamiti Prison since the anti-graft Court Magistrate Thomas Nzioki found him guilty of conflict of interest and receiving millions in a road tender through corrupt means.
In the ruling delivered on February 13, Justice Nzioka sentenced the former county administrator to 12 years in prison with an option to pay a fine of Ksh53 million.
The former Kiambu Governor was sentenced alongside his wife, Susan Waititu and a contractor. The court directed Waititu's wife to pay a fine of Ksh500,000 or serve a sentence of one year in prison.
The magistrate, while delivering the judgement, noted that Waititu's conduct could not be forgiven since he undermined the tenets of good governance. The sentencing followed a successful application by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
