Sentencing of MP Waluke
Grace Wakhungu and Sirisia MP John Waluke in the dock on June 25, 2020. PHOTO | RICHARD MUNGUTI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Both Mr Waluke and Ms Wakhungu face the possibility of going behind bars for a maximum of 10 years while the MP faces another reality of losing his seat in Parliament if he is jailed for more than six months.
Sirisia MP John Waluke and his co-accused Grace Wakhungu are in the dock at the Milimani Law Courts to be sentenced in the Sh314 million National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) maize scandal.
Both Mr Waluke and Ms Wakhungu face the possibility of going behind bars for a maximum of 10 years while the MP faces another reality of losing his seat in Parliament if he is jailed for more than six months.
Earlier this week, Chief magistrate Elizabeth Juma cancelled their bail terms immediately after issuing a guilty verdict. They were locked up at Kileleshwa Police Station.
The two own Erad Supplies & General Contracts Ltd, which the NCPB paid Sh314 million after they accused the agency of breaching a contract in 2004.
Then, the Agriculture ministry had in a letter dated July 19, 2004, instructed NCPB to purchase two million bags of maize for famine relief and Strategic Grain Reserve.
The firm won an award for the supply of 40,000 metric tonnes of maize. However, the agency allegedly cancelled the tender for lack of funds.
Ms Juma ruled that the prosecution had proved all the charges against the two.
The charges against them stated that being directors of Erad Suppliers, they presented a false invoice of $1,146,000 (Sh115,072,725) on February 24, 2009, as evidence in the arbitration dispute between the company and the NCPB.
