Sirisia MP John Waluke has been released on Sh10 million cash bail pending an appeal of his jail sentence in a multimillion-shilling corruption case.
In a ruling issued by Court of Appeal judges Asike Makhandia, Grace Ngenye, and Sankale ole Kantai, he was granted bail pending the hearing of his appeal against the 67-year prison sentence imposed by the anti-corruption court.
“We conclude that Waluke’s continued incarceration will automatically result in his loss of his Parliamentary seat.” “Because if you do not sit for eight consecutive seats, you automatically lose your seat,” said Judge Ngenye.
“Assuming he is heard on appeal and succeeds, he will not be able to capture his seat because a by-election will have been held and him being in jail will not be eligible to stand as an MP, which will be prejudicial to him and his Sirisia people who elected him when he was out on bail.”
The court ordered Waluke to be released on his previous cash bail of Ksh 10 million or a bond of Ksh 20 million with one surety of like amount granted by the High Court.
The decision came after Waluke’s defense lawyers, led by Dr Otiende Amollo, a senior counsel, urged the court to uphold the bail terms of Ksh10 million granted by the High Court in 2020.
Omollo stated that they have more than 30 arguable legal points in support of the appeal’s success and that the MP faces losing his seat and triggering a by-election if he is not granted bail.
They claimed that because the magistrate court acquitted Waluke of the main charge of uttering false invoices, there was no basis to convict him of fraudulent acquisition of public property.
