On Thursday, October 6, High Court Judge Esther Maina ordered Sirisia MP John Waluke to pay KSh 1 billion fine or serve 67 years in jail for fraud.
This was after the Jubilee lawmaker lost the appeal against a magistrate’s court ruling that slapped him with a heavy sentence.
The court further found that the evidence tendered before the trial court was factual since the appellants had fraudulently received the money.
Waluke, and his business partner Judy Wakhungu were in June 2020 found guilty of defrauding the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) to the tune of KSh297 million.
However, on Friday, October 7, the legislator surrendered himself to the police in Nairobi.
Sirisia MP took himself to the Milimani Law Courts where he was detained at the facility’s cells, awaiting transfer to prison.
Waluke and his co-accused Grace Wakhungu, sentence commenced on Thursday, October 6.
Waluke was handed the 67-year jail term upon conviction while Wakhungu was sentenced to 69 years behind bars.
They two were imprisoned on June 22, 2020, by the Anti-Corruption Court but later released on KSh10 million and KSh20 million cash bail respectively in September 2020 after a three-month stint in jail.
This was to allow the legislator to contest in the August 9, General Election.
He secured re-election in the Sirisia parliamentary seat after garnering 16, 461 votes against Ford Kenya’s candidate Nasiuma Wafula who polled 8,811 votes.
Earlier on, Waluke’s lawyer Cliffe Ombeta had pleaded with the court to slap his client with a lenient sentence saying he was an old man.
“We are begging that you give us the most lenient sentence. It is provided for in the laws. Look at his age, he is not a young man,” Ombeta said.
However, High Court Judge Esther Maina explained that the hefty fines were to set an example for individuals who would rather risk the lives of Kenyans to pursue personal interests.
