UPDATE: Gachagua Promises to Challenge Court Ruling Over His Asset Recovery

In a flurry of tweets sent out hours after Thursday's decision, Gachagua accused justice Esther Maina of bias and stated that he had told his attorneys to apply right away for a stay of the orders at the Court of Appeal.

"The judgment today by Justice Esther Maina, in my case against the Asset Recovery Agency, did not come as a surprise to me and my Lawyers. The Judge was biased against us from the word go and threw caution to the wind by conducting a sham trial," Gachagua said.

According to justice Maina's ruling in the Milimani law courts, the funds in question are proceeds of crime and are susceptible to seizure by the State.

The Deputy President`s running mate Gachagua had acknowledged getting the money through contract awards from government organizations and agencies.

Undated photo of UDA Running mate Rigathi Gachagua  [Left} with UDA Presidential candidate DP William Ruto {RIght}

The court, however, stated that the only document Gachagua had was a letter dated February 9, 2015 from a government ministry stating Wamunyoro Investments Ltd. had won a contract.

Additionally, the court rejected arguments that the money was in a fixed deposit account.

"There was an argument that the funds were in a fixed deposit account but that is not the position," the Judge said.

Gachagua perceived malice in the decision and questioned why it was made just ten days before the general elections on August 9.

He described the action as a fruitless attempt to damage his candidacy and his standing in the running mates debate that was held last week.

"Against the rules of evidence, she refused our application to cross-examine the Investigator in order to test the veracity of his allegations. She ruled that all evidence should be through affidavits and rejected oral evidence," Gachagua said.

Four accounts at Rafiki Micro Finance Bank, three of which are in Gachagua's name, hold the contested cash.

A fourth account, with Sh1,138,142 in it, is opened in the name of Gachaguas' business partner, Jenne Enterprises.

Gachagua has three accounts with a combined balance of Sh165,000,000, Sh35,000,000, and Sh773,228.

Gachagua claimed that the judge's decision to bar his defense team from making oral arguments goes against well-established international protocol.

"She refused my request to call witnesses to testify on how I got my money. She has made a ruling relying solely on the allegations by the State without giving us an opportunity to put the allegations to test as per the known practice all over the world," Gachagua said.