Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu, his wife Susan Wangari, and two others have been detained until tomorrow when they will be sentenced in the graft case.
Waititu, alias Baba Yao, was on Wednesday found guilty of corruption alongside his wife, Susan, and two others in a Sh. 588 million graft case.
Waititu, his wife, and two former county government officials were charged with fraud, conflict of interest, dealing with suspect property, money laundering, and abuse of office. The charges stem from the fraudulent awarding of tenders to a company owned by his family.
In his judgment, Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzyoki stated that the money trail directly linked Waititu, his wife, and Testimony Enterprises Limited. He further emphasized that the evidence presented by the prosecution was overwhelming.
The court also found that Testimony Enterprises Limited secured the tender using forged academic documents and manipulation by Engineer Luca, the third accused person.
Additionally, the court ruled that Governor Waititu had violated his oath of office by benefiting from proceeds of crime, which were funneled to his company in direct violation of the law.
“The defense by the governor lacked merit and was self-incriminating, as he could not explain how his company won the tender,” the court ruled.
Waititu was found guilty of conflict of interest for acquiring an indirect personal interest amounting to over Sh. 25,624,500 from Testimony Enterprises Limited.
The funds were channeled through his company and business name during his tenure as governor.
The court dismissed Waititu’s defense that the case was a political witch-hunt, with the trial magistrate stressing that “numbers and figures don’t lie.”
The court ruled that the prosecution had sufficiently proven the charges, describing the case as a classic example of conflict of interest.
It further highlighted that the prosecution’s evidence was “sound and overwhelming,” pointing to the movement of funds in Equity Bank accounts linked to the former governor and his wife.
Additionally, the court declared the roads tender in question fraudulent, citing a lack of necessary documentation and the company’s inability to execute the road project.
“I have no doubt in my mind that the contract is a fraud… It is a mockery of the law,” the court ruled.
The court also revealed that the tender evaluation committee removed two key criteria, violating the Constitution.
If not successfully appealed, this conviction could bar Waititu from holding any public office. This would further complicate his already uncertain political future, as his impeachment had already disqualified him from vying for any political position for 10 years.
