"Pay KSh1 billion or serve 67 years in jail" - Court tells MP Waluke, Wakhungu

The High Court has ordered Sirisia Member of Parliament John Waluke to pay a KSh1 billion fine or serve 67 years in jail over KSh313 million fraud case.

The lawmaker who was found guilty of defrauding the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) the money lost his appeal prompting the court's decision.

Waluke had been charged alongside Grace Wakhungu who is also required to pay KSh1.02 billion fines or serve 69 years in prison.

The two were supposed to supply 40,000 metric tonnes of maize to NCPB in 2004 but ended up pocketing KSh313 million without supplying even a single grain of maize.

In her ruling on Thursday, October 6, Justice Esther Maina said that the charges against Waluke had been proved beyond reasonable doubt.

"The sentences were not excessive. They are within the law. Conviction and sentences affirmed," Justice Maina ruled, dismissing the appeal.

The convicts are likely to be subjected to scrutiny of the source of their resources should they opt to pay the billions.