Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu alias Baba Yao was on Wednesday found guilty of corruption alongside his wife Susan Wangari and two others in the Sh 588 M.
Waititu was charged alongside his wife and two other former County government officials with fraud, conflict of interest, dealing with suspect property, money laundering and abuse of office arising from fraudulent award of tenders to a company owned by his family.
In his judgement, Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzyoki said the money trail connects Waititu, his wife and the Testimony Enterprises Limited and that the evidence tabled by the prosecution in support of their case was overwhelming.
The court further found out that Testimony Enterprises Limited won the tender in relying on forged academic documents and by manipulation by Engineer Luca the third accused person.
The court said Governor waititu failed in his own oath of office by benefiting from proceeds of crime remitted to his company against the Law.
“The defence 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 in over Sh. 25,624,500 from Testimony Enterprises Limited.
The funds were funneled through his company and business name during his tenure as governor.
The court further dismissed Waititu’s defense of political witch-hunt, with the trial magistrate emphasizing that “numbers and figures don’t lie.”
The court ruled that the prosecution had sufficiently established the offense, describing the case as a classic example of conflict of interest.
The court noted that the prosecution’s evidence was “sound and overwhelming,” by highlighting the movement of funds in Equity Bank accounts associated with the former governor and his wife.
Additionally, the court declared the roads tender in question fraudulent, saying it lacked the necessary documentation and that the company involved did not have the capacity 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 further revealed that two key criteria were removed by the tender evaluation committee, thereby violating the Constitution.
This conviction if not challenged might see him barred from holding any public office which would add oil to his already slippery political road owing to his Impeachment which barred him from vying for a political position for 10 years.
