Susan Ndung’u, wife to Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu on Friday pleaded with the court to give her back the Ksh4 million that she posted as cash bail in July in a graft case facing her.
She told the court that she had borrowed the money, and that time to refund her loaner had elapsed. She said she was yet to find alternative ways of settling the debt.
The suspect, therefore, requested the court to replace the cash bail with a surety of a similar amount. She gave the title deed of her land as a surety, a request that the court allowed.
Anti-corruption court magistrate, Lawrence Mugambi, however, asked the investigating officer to conduct valuation of the parcel of land before the title deed can be formally accepted in court.
Sixty nine witnesses have been lined up to testify against Susan Ndung’u, her husband Governor Waititu, and eight other suspects, who allegedly conspired to defraud the tax-payer of Ksh588 million in crafty road development projects.
State prosecutor, Nicholas Mutuku, told the court that his team will need at least 64 hours to successfully argue their case against the accused.
Mutuku, who adds that his team has 170 documents implicating the suspects, asked the court for 4 hours in each day that the case will be heard.
The State prosecutor further stated that his team will rely on six expert reports to nail the case.
Magistrate Mugambi warned the prosecution against disclosing information once witnesses testify.
Some of the documents that the prosecution will rely on have already been shared with the accused legal reps.
Governor Waititu’s lawyer, Gitobu Imanyara, confirmed he received the documents on Thursday, September 26, but says he is not yet prepared for pre-trial.
Magistrate Mugambi said the Ksh588 million gtaft case pre-trial cannot proceed until the defense legal teams receive all the documents.
The magistrate, therefore, set October 18 as the pre-trial date.