Petition with signatures to kick Waititu out handed to assembly
Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu at Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on July 29, 2019 over abuse of office. A lobby group dubbed ‘Okoa Kiambu’ on November 6, 2019 presented 210,000 signatures to the County Assembly and asked them to expedite the Governor's impeachment process. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The group called on the assembly to act fast, failure to which they will petition the President to dissolve the county and call for fresh elections.
- The group alleges that Mr Waititu continues to sabotage his deputy James Nyoro by funding petitioners in court.
- Mr Waititu together with his wife and others are accused of conspiring to defraud the county of Sh588 million through irregular awards of tenders
A lobby pushing for the impeachment of embattled Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu over graft allegations yesterday presented 210,000 signatures to the county assembly.
The group dubbed ‘Okoa Kiambu’ asked ward reps to speed up the impeachment process.
Led by their leader Hoswell Kinuthia, the group that is made up of community leaders addressed a rally at Ndumberi Stadium and later proceeded to the county assembly, where they presented their memorandum to Majority leader Gideon Gachara.
SABOTAGE CLAIMS
“Today we have presented 210,000 signatures from the public to the county assembly to have Mr Waititu impeached over graft allegations and his role in sabotaging his deputy James Nyoro …” said Mr Kinuthia.
“We hope and believe the assembly will act fast and if they don’t, we will petition President Uhuru Kenyatta to dissolve the county assembly and call for fresh elections,” he added.
The group opines that Mr Waititu, who was barred by a court from accessing the county headquarters after being implicated in e graft, continues to sabotage his deputy by funding petitioners in court, making it hard for him to work effectively.
The group further argues that Mr Waititu has fallen short of the requirements of Chapter 6 of the Constitution and the Leadership and Integrity Act after being charged with corruption.
Mr Waititu together with his wife and others are accused of conspiring to defraud the county of Sh588 million through irregular awards of tenders.
GRAFT WITNESSES
Last week, the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji revealed that 68 witnesses have been lined up to testify in the graft case against Mr Waititu, his wife Susan Wangari and eight others.
Even as this is happening, more problems seem to be facing Mr Waititu’s allies. Last week, the assembly impeached Youth Affairs Executive Karungo Thang’wa over claims of incompetence, abuse of office and gross misconduct.
They also accused Mr Thang’wa of launching a county football tournament dubbed ‘the Kiambu Super Cup’, which was used to embezzle millions of shillings.
But Mr Thangw’a has denied the claims and termed his impeachment political, saying he is being fought by his nemesis for his dalliance with Mr Waititu.
He says the committee investigating him failed to produce evidence incriminating him to the embezzlement of public funds when he appeared before it this week.
