Sirisia MP John Waluke Released on a Cash Bail of Ksh10 Million
Sirisia Member of Parliament John Waluke has been released on a cash bail of Ksh10 million pending an appeal of his 67-year jail sentence in a multimillion-shilling corruption case.
Gathogo Wanjiru 
In a ruling delivered by Court of Appeal judges Asike Makhandia, Grace Ngenye, and Sankale ole Kantai, the court allowed Waluke's application to be released on bail terms pending the hearing of his appeal against the jail term imposed by the anti-corruption court.
"We find that the continued incarceration of Waluke will automatically lead to the loss of his Parliamentary seat. Once he does not attend eight consecutive seatings then he will automatically lose his seat. On that ground we find the application for bail has merit and is allowed," Judge Ngenye who read the ruling stated.
Consequently, the court ordered that Waluke be released on his previous cash bail of Ksh10 million or a bond of Ksh20 million with one surety of a similar amount pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.
The decision comes after Waluke through his defense lawyers led by Dr. Otiende Amollo, a senior counsel, urged the court to maintain the bail terms of Ksh10 million, that Waluke was granted by the High Court in 2020. The lawyers said he is yet to be refunded the money.
Omollo said they have more than 30 arguable legal points as to the success of the appeal adding that the MP is at risk of losing his seat and triggering a by-election should he not be granted bail. Other defense lawyers were Elisha Ongoya and Melissa Ng’ania.
Waluke and his business partner Grace Wakhungu were thrown back to jail in October after the High Court dismissed their appeals in the Ksh297 maize fraud case.
The duo was convicted in 2020 for forgery and fraudulently acquiring Ksh297 million from the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) in 2014.
The lawyers said that the magistrate court having acquitted Waluke from the main charge of uttering false invoices there was no basis for convicting him for fraudulent acquisition of public property.
The court heard that since the acquisition of the funds stemmed from the forged invoices, then Waluke could not be convicted.
“The court found he did not utter any document and acquitted him. But strangely convicted him of fraudulently obtaining money on the basis of uttering the document,” Dr Amollo said.
