Waititu, wife plead for leniency in Sh588m money laundering case

Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu and his wife have urged the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court to spare them harsh punishment in the three money laundering charges in the Sh588 million graft case.

Waititu and his wife Susan Wangari pleaded for mercy before Milimani Anti-Corruption Chief Magistrate Harrison Barasa, arguing that they have already suffered through years of prosecution and that no government money was lost.

In their mitigation on three charges of Money laundering, the couple, through lawyer Chris Mutuku, urged the court to consider that they had already been punished for other corruption-related offences, cautioning that harsh additional punishment could cripple them financially.

“The idea of punishment and the idea of sentencing is not to cripple persons or to kill persons,” lawyer Mutuku told the court.

“It is to rehabilitate, to send a message home to the persons that what they have done might not be right or is not right in the eyes of the law.”

The lawyer argued that the Waititu had already been heavily penalised in their other corruption offences in the matter, including charges of Conflict of interest through fines exceeding Sh50 million and a 12-year jail term.

He further urged the court to consider that Waititu and his co-convicts have since challenged these convictions at the Court of Appeal.

“This matter is presently, we have already filed a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeal to challenge their convictions,” Mutuku said.

He argued that the differing decisions of the lower court and the High Court over the matter demonstrated the need for caution before imposing further punishment.

“There is every possibility that even the Court of Appeal might arrive at a fairly different opinion, which opinion could also be a finding on the innocence of the convicted persons,” he said.

Mutuku also invoked the principle of double jeopardy, asking the court to consider the punishment already imposed on the accused in the related corruption proceedings.

On the financial allegations, the lawyer urged the court to examine the audit report presented by the prosecution, arguing that it showed the government had not lost money.

“That audit report, I would like the Court to look at it in respect of the matters that bring us before you, Your Honour,” he said.

“That audit report is clear that no money whatsoever was lost by the government. Not a single cent was lost by the government.”

He added that the contracted works had been completed, arguing that the dispute concerned how the tender had been acquired.

Turning to Waititu’s wife, Mutuku argued that Susan had been a sleeping partner in the companies and had neither controlled their operations nor made decisions concerning the movement of the money.

“No evidence has been adduced before this Court, and Your Honour will also find that on the record. Showing that she either directly or indirectly, or through any proxy of her own, received any financial gain in this matter,” he said.

He further argued that Susan had not influenced the flow of funds and urged the court to consider her limited role in the companies.

The lawyer also pleaded for leniency for co-convicts businessman Charles Chege and his wife Beth Wangechi, who are the directors of Testimonials Limited, the company at the centre of the scandal.

Wangechi urged the court to impose a lenient sentence; she is a young mother whose husband, Chege, is serving a nine-year jail term over the same matter of fraudulently acquiring Sh147 million from the road tender

Mutuku said imposing a custodial sentence on her could leave her children without parental care.

“But realise that by punishing her together with her husband, you will in effect render her children destitute,” he told the court.

He said the accused had endured the case since 2019, citing anxiety, sleepless nights and restrictions on their freedom.

“All the accused persons in unison have asked me to seek the forgiveness of the Court,” Mutuku said.

He maintained that the accused continued to assert their innocence but acknowledged that the convictions remained in force pending the outcome of their appeal.

Waititu, his wife and two others will be sentenced on November 2, 2026.