Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu and his wife Susan Wangari have been found guilty of fraud in the irregular award of Sh588 million road tender.
Also guilty are the directors of testimony enterprises Charles Chege and Beth Wangeci who were awarded the tender and other county officials.
Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzioki, who found the accused with a case to answer, delivered the final verdict.
Waititu and his co-accused were charged with fraud, conflict of interest, dealing with suspect property, money laundering, and abuse of office, arising from the alleged fraudulent award of tenders to a company owned by the Waititu family.
Nzioki said the Prosecution was able to prove that Waititu failed to adhere to the values of national governance and to safeguard public funds when he received Sh25 million from Testimony after the award of the irregular tender.
He said the testimony of 32 witnesses and documentary evidence proved that Sh25 million was disbursed to him as a direct consequence of the award of the tender to testimony.
"The inevitable conclusion is that Waititu is liable for conflict of interest by acquiring an indirect personal interest of Sh25m from testimony," said the magistrate.
These monies were channelled through his company and business name Saika Two Developers and Bienvenue Hotel during his tenure as the Governor of Kiambu.
"This is a case of a classic example of conflict of interest and debunks the much-hyped theory of political witchhunt as claimed by Waititu," said the court.
The court in convicting Waititu also said a former roads official Lucas Wahinya, also an accused in the case, was guilty of disregarding every rule in the procurement law.
"Nothing seemed to stop him from securing the award of the tender to Testimony enterprises whose directors were acquittances of the Governor," said the Magistrate.
Nzioki took into consideration the evidence of Justus Bundi- the county's procurement boss who said Wahinya disregarded his opinion on various gaps that needed to be addressed before awarding the tender.
Waititu, his wife and other county officials were charged on July 29, 2019, with the corruption case.
Waititu in particular faced a conflict of interest, dealing with suspect property, money laundering and abuse of office.
The prosecution case was that Saika Two Estate Developers Ltd, a firm owned by Waititu and his wife, is said to have received more than Sh25 million from Testimony Enterprises Limited Contractor, a firm contracted by the county government to develop roads through irregular tendering.
The tender in question was for upgrading various gravel roads in Thika, Limuru, Gatundu North, Juja and Ruiru sub-counties during the financial year 2017-2018.
It was awarded to Testimony Enterprise, owned by Charles Chege and Beth Wangeci Mburu after quoting Sh588 million.
After the award, the company gave Waititu a 'kickback' of Sh25.6 million. #
The accused persons were however acquitted on charges of money laundering with the court saying there was no evidence to prove the same.
The case resumes after 45 minutes for mitigation.
