Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu is back in custody after the High Court in Nairobi dismissed his appeal against his conviction and 12-year jail term in the Sh588 million roads tender corruption case, and cancelled the bond that had kept him out of prison while the appeal was pending.

Delivering judgment on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, Justice Rose Ougo of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division at Milimani also set aside the trial court's decision to acquit Waititu and three co-accused of money laundering. She convicted them on those counts and sent the case back to the trial court for mitigation and sentencing.

The appellants were Waititu, his wife Susan Wangari Ndung'u, former Kiambu County Chief Officer for Roads, Transport, Public Works and Utilities Luka Mwangi Wahinya, and Charles Chege Mbuthia, a director of Testimony Enterprises Limited, the company that won the disputed tender.

Appeals dismissed, bond cancelled

Justice Ougo found that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and upheld the convictions and sentences handed down by the trial court on charges including conflict of interest, dealing with suspect property, abuse of office, fraudulent practices in procurement and fraudulent acquisition of public property.

According to Eastleigh Voice, the judge also held that the fines imposed by the trial court were mandatory under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act and had been properly imposed.

Having dismissed the appeals, the court revoked the bond terms the appellants had been enjoying. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), as reported by Citizen Digital and Kahawatungu, said Wangari was to be held at Lang'ata Women's Prison, while Waititu, Wahinya and Mbuthia were to be detained at Nairobi Remand Prison pending mitigation and sentencing on the money-laundering charges.

The matter is scheduled to return to the Anti-Corruption Magistrate's Court at Milimani on Monday, 19 October 2026, for mitigation and sentencing. The appellants were given 14 days within which to lodge a further appeal against the High Court's decision.

The prosecution in the appeal was led by Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Vincent Monda and Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Faith Mwila.

How the case began

The case arose from the award of a tender worth about Sh588 million to upgrade gravel roads in several Kiambu sub-counties during Waititu's tenure as governor. Waititu and his co-accused were first arraigned in July 2019 on charges that also included money laundering.

In February 2025, the anti-corruption court at Milimani convicted the former governor, finding that he had received about Sh25.6 million from Testimony Enterprises through companies linked to him. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison with the option of a fine running into tens of millions of shillings, on counts of conflict of interest and dealing with suspect property.

Wangari was sentenced to one year in prison or a Sh500,000 fine for dealing with suspect property, while Wahinya received seven years or a Sh21 million fine for abuse of office. Chege, the contractor, was handed a lengthy jail term with the option of a fine running into hundreds of millions of shillings. All the convicts were also barred from holding public office for 10 years.

Waititu became the second Kenyan governor to be convicted of corruption, after former Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal.

A long fight for freedom

After his conviction, Waititu began serving his sentence at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison and made several attempts to secure release pending appeal. He was initially denied bond in March 2025.

In July 2025, Justice Lucy Njuguna admitted him to bond pending appeal, citing medical reports on his health. The terms initially required a bank guarantee covering the full fine, which his lawyers later told the court he could not raise. In February 2026, the High Court reviewed the terms and allowed him to post Sh20 million cash bail, and ordered him to deposit his passport in court.

The appeal itself was delayed for months. In April 2026, Justice Ougo rejected an application by the ODPP to have the appeals thrown out for failing to meet a 120-day timeline for filing submissions set by the court in October 2025, allowing the matter to proceed to hearing and eventual judgment.

What happens next

With the bond cancelled, Waititu returns to prison to continue serving the 12-year term while awaiting fresh sentencing on the money-laundering counts. The trial court will hear mitigation from all four convicts on 19 October before passing sentence.

The former governor and his co-convicts may still challenge the High Court's decision at the Court of Appeal within the 14-day window granted by Justice Ougo.

The ruling marks a significant moment in one of the longest-running county corruption prosecutions, coming more than seven years after the four were first charged. It also restores a custodial sentence that had been suspended in practice for more than a year while the appeal was pending.

Photo: Wing / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0