Blow to Waititu as court declines to dismiss charges

Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu. [File, Standard]

Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu has suffered a setback after the court declined to dismiss charges of offensive conduct.

Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina ruled that the charges brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) are legally valid.

 He stated that the charges comply with the relevant sections of the Criminal Procedure Code, and dismissing them would be an improper use of judicial discretion.

"The charge before this court meets the requirements of Section 334 and 137 of the criminal procedure code hence ordering it's rejection under section 89 of the CPC as sought would be an improper exercise of judicial discretion," the magistrate ruled

 "For these reasons, the charge and his request for it's rejection are declined. In the circumstances the charge be ready to to him," he ruled.

Waititu was arrested recently by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) along the Northern Bypass.

He was taken to DCI headquarters where he was interrogated for hours in the company of his lawyer Ndegwa Njiru.

According to Njiru, his client was interrogated over a speech he made at a concert in Ruiru.

“Honorable Waititu was arrested by DCI officers for an alleged utterance at Ruiru on Sunday,” he posted on X.

Waititu spent the night at the Pangani Police Station before he was arraigned in court and granted Sh50,000 bail.

At the concert, the former governor accused President William Ruto of demeaning him and other leaders who worked hard for his election, and now he (Ruto) chest thumps himself and talks with pride.

Waititu said that he had found new respect for Gen Z for their protests that led to the fall of the Finance Bill 2024 and saw a reshuffle of the cabinet that saw several ministers fired.

“And whatever he was saying that the protestors were paid, it is a lie, no one was paid to protest, did you get any money,” he posed to the attendees.

He accused Ruto of using proxies to privatize the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport through Adani Holdings and others including the Kenyatta International Convention Centre which was recently stopped by the High Court.