Here Is Exactly Why Kiambu Governor Waititu Was Impeached

Embattled Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu was impeached late Thursday evening after 63 Members of the Kiambu County Assembly voted in favour of his removal motion tabled by Ndenderu MCA Solomon Kinuthia.

The county lawmakers ousted the man over charges of conflict of interest for using his proxy companies to trade with the county and failure to comply with procurement regulations, he was further accused of abuse of office, gross violation of the Constitution, County Government Act, Public Procurement and Disposal Act, the Public Finance Management Act and finally gross misconduct.

Conflict Of Interest

The governor is currently facing a Sh588 million graft charge on irregular procurement of a tender awarded to a company in the county. Waititu and his wife allegedly received Sh51.2 million for the county awarding a tender worth Sh588 million irregularly to M/s Testimony Enterprises Ltd.

On countless occasions, the house heard that the governor influenced the award of lucrative tenders to companies associated with immediate family and close relatives.

MCA Gideon Gachara supported the removal motion citing payments to five companies linked to the governor’s family at the expense of other contractors.

Abuse Of Office

During the motion, Kinuthia said the governor has failed to account for county resources and therein caused unsustainable debts as well as pending bills of Sh4 billion. “These pending obligations were never disclosed in the county fiscal strategy paper 2018. The governor failed to implement the medium term debt management strategy for the financial year 2018-2019 placing the county in precarious financial position,” the MCA said.

Using his power as governor, Waititu was accused of grabbing land in the county repeatedly including one belonging to Cecilia Njoki, a widow in Thika. “The matter was concluded by the ombudsman after its findings of fact implicate the governor in impeachable conduct,” Kinuthia said.

The ward representatives further accused Waititu of disregarded the county assembly as an arm of the county government by diverting funds intended for use by the assembly to projects where he would obtain personal benefits

The fate of the Kiambu Governor now entirely lies in the hands of the Senate.