Politicians from Bungoma county who fear that the electorate will accuse them of abandoning Sirisia MP John Waluke who is currently serving a 67-year jail term are scheming ways to lure powerful forces at State House to secure him freedom.
This comes after a sections of Luhya leaders and operatives of the Jubilee party have been accused of leaving the corrupt Waluke to rot in jail despite the fact that they can raise the needed Sh.1 billion to bail him out.
The silence in Jubilee has pushed Bungoma leaders who are closer to the government of the day to lay out schemes of getting Waluke out of jail.
“We have suspects whose cases have been dropped without any explanation. Why is Waluke’s case being pushed? Is he a son of a lesser God?” Bumula MP Jack Wamboka posed
Bungoma County largely voted for UDA and was instrumental in handing William Ruto a commanding win over Raila Odinga but Waluke in particular, was opposed to Ruto because he thought the retired regime would propel Odinga to power and have his case dismissed.
Waluke and his business associate Grace Wakhungu were found guilty of defrauding National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) Sh297 million and sentenced to serve 67 years in jail or pay a fine of Sh1 billion each.
Waluke defrauded the NCPD during the first term of the Late retired President Mwai Kibaki but was found guilty during the last term of former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
He had appealed and enjoyed months of freedom, and even participated in the August 9 general elections but his appeal was knocked out by the High Court which ruled that the magistrate court had issued a fair ruling.
Meetings are being chaired by top politicians from Bungoma and one of the options they are working on is to have the matter heard at the Court of Appeal. The team also wants the National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula not to declare Waluke’s seat vacant until all options are exhausted.
If he loses at the Court of Appeal he will automatically lose his parliamentary seat because the Constitution provides that an MP automatically loses his seat if imprisoned for a term exceeding six months.
Luhya leaders including Didimus Barasa and Mumias East MP Peter Salasya have also called for the release of Waluke arguing that Sirisia residents are protesting his imprisonment.
