'Please release Waluke,' Mumias East MP Salasya pleads with President Ruto

Mumias East MP Peter Salasya has beseeched President William Ruto to use his constitutional powers and free Sirisia lawmaker John Waluke who was last week sentenced to 67 years in prison following a much-publicized graft case.

Addressing the press on Thursday at Parliament grounds in Nairobi, the lawmaker questioned why Waluke was given an ultimatum by the High Court to either serve the sentence or pay a Ksh.1 billion fine, a sum he says is absolutely ludicrous.

"This has never happened in Kenya's history. No one has ever been arrested and asked to give a fine of Ksh.1 billion. This is the first time," said Salasya, who was flanked by other MPs from Western Kenya.

"We as leaders of Western Kenya are not going to stand for this and we are telling President William Ruto to please release Waluke. We love you and we have accepted that you are our president so just release him."

Salasya likewise insinuated that the case against Waluke was politically motivated, going as far as claiming that the prosecution team should not fold under any pressure from the State.

"It is very much unfortunate and more so to the Judiciary. It is like you were there to please some kind of status quo but this time round you must listen and hear us. And we’re telling that [lawyer] who has gone ahead and prosecuted Waluke, [she] should not play politics in her judgment, don't do it, we are seeing you," he said.

Our president His excellency @WilliamsRuto please advise @CJMarthaKoome to do justice and release @HonJohnWaluke this country is blessed and we thank God for post election peace we have experienced so far .@Kenyajudiciary heal this country instead ,let us forgive and move on pic.twitter.com/fXLcz2ae3l

In the case, Waluke and his co-accused Grace Wakhungu were accused of defrauding the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) Ksh.313 million in 2004.

The MP was charged alongside Wakhungu, and Erad Supplies & General Contracts Limited (Erad); a company where the two are shareholders.

Waluke and Wakhungu, through the company, were supposed to supply 40,000 metric tonnes of maize to NCPB in 2004 but ended up pocketing Ksh.313 million without supplying even a single grain of maize.

The tender was however cancelled after Erad Supplies, a company in which the late businessman Jacob Juma was also a director, failed to prove it had sufficient funds to supply the maize.

The company later moved to court and sued NCPB claiming that by the time the tender was being cancelled, it already had the maize procured from Ethiopia and that it was being stored by Chelsea Freight, a South African firm, in Djibouti.