Sirisia Constituency Member of Parliament John Waluke has been found guilty by a Nairobi court in a Sh297 million graft case.
The Mp who was set to lose his parliamentary seat if found guilty will now be remanded pending sentencing on Thursday.
Article 22 (2) (g) of the Constitution provides that a person is disqualified from being elected a member of Parliament if they are subject to imprisonment for at least six months if found to have misused or abused a State office or public office.
Waluke, former Environment CS Judi Wakhungu’s mother, Grace Wakhungu and Erad Supplies, and General Contractors Ltd were accused of uttering a false document and receiving the money on March 19, 2013, as the cost of storage of white maize that was to be supplied to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).
The court had heard that on February 24, 2009, Waluke, the director of Erad, knowingly and fraudulently uttered a false invoice for Sh114 million to be used as evidence in the arbitration of a dispute between his company and the NCPB.
The fake invoice was to be used to support a claim for the cost of storage of 40,000 tonnes of maize that was incurred by Chelsea Freight.
“The court found that there was fraud and the accused acquired money by false pretenses,” magistrate Elizabeth Juma ruled.
The MP had pleaded not guilty in August 2018 and applied for conservatory orders to stop NCPB, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and the magistrate’s court from proceeding with the trial, pending hearing of the application. This was rejected by the court on January 30.
