This archive report was first published on 24 October 2021.
On October 24, 2021, the Supreme Court delivered a ruling that upheld the decision to bar governors facing graft charges from accessing their offices pending the determination of their trials.
The court found that the Appellate court correctly observed that the bail terms imposed on former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu were sufficient and concluded that no error or misdirection had been made by the trial Court or the High Court in upholding the trial Court’s findings.
Waititu had argued that the order barring him from accessing the office until his criminal case is heard and determined was unlawful, illegal, and amounted to removing him from office.
However, the Supreme Court judges said that Waititu did not demonstrate how the High Court and the Court of Appeal judges erred in failing to interfere with the exercise of the trial court’s discretion.
The court observed that the trial Court considered the nature of the corruption charges and the possibility of Waititu interfering with witnesses, who were his subordinates at the time.
Waititu was charged alongside his wife, Susan Wangari Ndung’u, and several others in connection with a Sh588 million tender scam.
