Waititu loses 5 staff as county officials resign over ‘meddling’

Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu. Five officials in his administration have resigned, accusing him of interfering with their work. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Ms Harrison had earlier resigned after she was transferred following an alleged falling-out with Mr Waititu.
  • Enforcement officers raided the Finance department in Thika on Monday evening and forcibly changed door locks.
  • Ms Harrison confirmed her resignation, saying that she had left the county job for good.

Barely two weeks after Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu reinstated Chief Officer Faith Njeri Harrison, she and five others in the department have quit again.

Ms Harrison had earlier resigned after she was transferred following an alleged falling-out over the governor’s alleged interference with her docket.

The director of accounting services, his deputy and three accountants also tendered their resignation letters on Tuesday after another acrimonious falling-out with the governor over his meddling in, among other things, payment of pending bills.

DOOR LOCKS CHANGED

The resignations came a day after county enforcement officers raided the Finance department in Thika on Monday evening and forcibly changed door locks.

Shortly after, Ms Harrison was moved to the low-profile Trade docket.

Mr Waititu immediately replaced her with Public Administration Chief Officer Wilson Kinyanjui, who was in charge of the controversial drunkards rehabilitation programme dubbed Kaa Sober, which is currently under investigations by detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) over possible theft of millions of shillings.

The governor also appointed Ms Ann Muchai as the director of Accounting Services while Ms Eda Kabuithia will be in charge of the treasury, even as it emerged that their predecessors have already secured a return to the national government where they were seconded from.

LEFT FOR GOOD

When contacted Wednesday, Ms Harrison confirmed her resignation together with those of her fellow officials, but declined to give the reasons, only saying that she had left the county job for good.

But according to reliable sources within the executive including some chief officers who spoke in confidence, they angered the governor by refusing to pay pending bills to some companies, allegedly belonging to his cronies, including some ward reps.

The governor, according to the sources, had allegedly given a list of the companies to be paid last week but Ms Harrison and her team secretly paid firms they thought were more deserving.

Efforts to get a comment from the governor Wednesday regarding the resignations and the accusations were futile, as he did not respond to our calls or text messages.

STREAMLINE OPERATIONS

But while speaking at Bibirioni in Limuru on the same day, Mr Waititu claimed that the changes were meant to streamline operations in the Finance department, mostly on payment of pending bills.

The EACC is probing claims that the governor allegedly used his position to siphon millions of shillings from the county through fraudulent acquisition of public funds, conflict of interest and money laundering.

Last month, 13 top current and former county officials recorded statements with the EACC in the ongoing investigations over alleged massive theft of public resources in the county.