Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu's political career now teeters on the edge of oblivion, after a court found him guilty of corruption-related charges in connection with the illegal award of a Sh588m road tender.
The former county chief and his wife Susan Wangari were on Wednesday found guilty of conflict of interest and dealing with suspect property offences after corruptly receiving millions from Kiambu county through the multi-million roads tender.
Waititu who is set to be sentenced Thursday now faces the grim possibility of being barred from holding any public office for the next decade, and his chances of returning to an elective position increasingly slim following his conviction.
This was one of the pleas sought by Prosecution Counsel Faith Mwila while urging the court to impose a harsh sentence that would serve as a deterrent to any person thinking of engaging in any corrupt conduct.
According to Kenyan law, a person found guilty of corruption can face consequences including a substantial fine, imprisonment for up to ten years, confiscation of property acquired through corrupt means, and disqualification from holding public office for a period of time, depending on the severity of the offence and the specific provisions of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.
Waititu and his wife can however appeal against the ruling.
Also convicted were the directors of Testimony Enterprises, the firm that was awarded the irregular tender.
They are Charles Chege and Beth Wangeci.
Lucas Wahinya the former county's road official was also found guilty on the charge of abuse of office.
The case started in 2019 when Waititu and his co-accused were first arraigned in court over the matter.
Five members of the tender evaluation committee who had initially been charged alongside Waititu were however let off the hook after they challenged their prosecution at the High Court.
The case then proceeded with Waititu and the rest.
The first count Waititu faced was conflict of interest.
It was the Prosecutions case that between July 2, 2018, and March 13, 2019, Waititu knowingly acquired an indirect private interest, being the receipt of Sh25,624,500 in respect of payments made to Testimony Enterprises Limited for contracts awarded to the said company by the Kiambu County Government.
In the second count, Waititu faced a charge of dealing with suspect property
The particulars of the offence were that between July 2nd 2018 and March 13, 2019, in Nairobi Waititu and Saika Two Estate Developers Limited, received Sh18,410,50 from Testimony Enterprises Limited, having reason to believe that the said amount was acquired from Kiambu County Government through corrupt conduct.
The third count against Waititu and his wife, Susan Wangari Ndung’u trading as Bienvenne Delta Hotel, was dealing with suspect property.
The two were alleged to have received Sh7,214,000 from Testimony Enterprises Limited while having reason to believe that the said amount was acquired from the Kiambu County Government through corrupt conduct.
In total, they received Sh51 million.
Nzioki in convicting him said the testimony of 32 witnesses and documentary evidence proved that the monies were disbursed to him as a direct consequence of the award of the irregular tender to Testimony.
Charles Chege and his spouse Beth Wangeci, and their company, Testimony Enterprises Ltd, were on the other hand arraigned over charges of engaging in fraudulent practice and fraudulent acquisition of public property.
They were convicted of these charges after the court found that they used forged degree certificates for technical staff in a bid submitted concerning the road tender.
Magistrate Nzioki also took into consideration the evidence of a Chinese construction company that testified of their letterhead being forged by Testimony for the award of the roads the tender.
The court also said the Prosecution was able to prove that they also fraudulently acquired Sh147,274,055 from the County Government of Kiambu for the tender.
The tender for the project was issued on February 12 and awarded to Testimony Enterprise, owned by Charles Chege and Beth Wangeci Mburu after quoting Sh588 million.
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.
During the trial, Waititu had made a passionate plea to have the evidence of one of the crucial witnesses barred from testifying against him.
Waititu was apprehensive that the evidence of Justus Bundi- would be skewed and designed to infringe on his constitutional rights culminating in an unfair trial.
But the court declined his request.
It was Bundi- who told the court that due process was not followed in awarding the tender.
The state witness was the then procurement boss at the county.
He testified that the tender evaluation committee introduced a new criteria ‘serialization of documents’ that was not part of the bid document.
This new criteria he said changed to the disadvantage of some bidders.
“Bidders were evaluated on new criteria they were not aware of. The serialization of the documents was a disadvantage to other bids. The outcome would have been different if re-evaluation had been done,” said Bundi.
In his professional opinion, he recommended for re-evaluation of the tender but the same was disregarded by Wahinya and the tender was finally awarded to Testimony.
The convicts who spent the night in custody are now staring at lengthy jail terms and harsh sentences as sought by the state.
