Waititu ordered to pay Sh53.5m fine or spend 12 years in jail

Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu has been ordered to pay a Sh53.5 million fine or spend 12 years in prison after being found guilty of corruption-related charges.

His wife Susan Wangari has been ordered to pay Sh500,000 or spend one year behind bars.

All convicts were also barred from holding any public office for ten years.

Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzioki delivered the sentence on Thursday.

For Charles Chege, the Director of Testimony Enterprises, the court ordered he deposit a fine of Sh295m or spend the next nine years behind bars.

His wife on the other hand Beth Wangeci was ordered to pay a fine of Sh1.4m or spend two years in prison.

Lucas Wahinya, the road engineer, is required to deposit a fine of Sh21m in default, spend seven years in prison.

Nzioki directed that the convicts be escorted to the Industrial area prison.

After the sentencing, Waititu requested to be escorted to the hospital but the Magistrate directed the issue be handled by the prison authorities.

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] 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.