Court denies Ferdinand Waititu bail, ex-governor to serve 12 years in Kamiti

Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu will have to keep serving his 12-year jail term at Kamiti Maximum Prison after the Anti-Corruption High Court rejected his latest bid for freedom.

On Wednesday, Justice Lucy Njuguna dismissed Waititu’s third attempt to secure bail pending the hearing of his appeal in the Sh588 million corruption case.

Waititu’s lawyer, Charles Matuku, told the court his client had been unable to raise the required bank guarantee to secure his release. He pleaded with the judge to allow Waititu to instead pay Sh20 million in cash bail, arguing that the ex-governor was sickly, admitted at Kenyatta National Hospital, and posed no flight risk.

“We have not been able to secure a bank guarantee as ordered by the court for the reason that the appellant is still in custody,” Matuku said. “We are willing to deposit the amount in court.”

But Justice Njuguna stood firm, insisting that Waititu had to stick to his earlier commitment of producing a bank guarantee.

“I will not allow the application. In your affidavit, you offered a bank guarantee and upon consulting the Deputy Registrar, I was told that it was doable,” she ruled.

The ruling means Waititu, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison or a Sh52.7 million fine over a multi-million-shilling road tender scandal, will remain behind bars until his appeal is heard and determined.

This was his third attempt at securing bail. His earlier bids were thrown out, with the judge warning that the court could not keep revisiting its own decisions.

Justice Njuguna pointed out that issues raised in the fresh application were the same ones his lawyers should have presented earlier. She also cited Court of Appeal precedents that discourage relitigating matters already determined, saying courts must promote consistency and finality.

The Office of the DPP, represented by principal prosecution counsel Faith Mwila, opposed the application, accusing Waititu of abusing court process and trying to delay the hearing of his appeal.

“The appellant has not demonstrated that there has been a change of circumstances warranting this court to review its orders of March 4, 2025,” Mwila submitted.

The DPP further argued that the new bid violated the hierarchy of courts and amounted to a blatant attempt to stall justice.

In his second bail application earlier this year, Waititu’s lawyer Kibe Mungai had insisted that an amended petition filed on March 11 contained strong legal grounds suggesting a high chance of success.

“The appeal has numerous substantial points of law that show it is likely to succeed,” Mungai told the court at the time.