MCAs vow to go on with motion seeking Waititu’s impeachment

Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu is facing a possible ouster after MCAs yesterday vowed to continue with a motion to remove him over various irregularities including claims of his companies doing business with the county government.

Ndenderu MCA Solomon Kinuthia will Thursday petition the Speaker to have the governor removed from office for allegedly violating the Constitution, County Government Act, Public Finance Management Act, and County Assembly Standing Orders.

Mr Kinuthia says there has been lack of accountability in the management of county resources by incurring unsustainable debts and other pending obligations to the tune of Sh4 billion.

“These pending obligations were never disclosed in the County Fiscal Strategy Paper, 2019, thus violating Articles 201 (e) of the Constitution and Section 107 (2) (e) of the Public Finance Management Act,” he said in the motion seeking Mr Waititu’s impeachment.

This, he said, placed Kiambu in a highly precarious financial position as it may lead to protracted and costly court battles with creditors and eventual auctioning of county assets.

The MCA said there has been diversion of funds intended for use by the assembly to unplanned projects, with the result being systematic crippling of assembly operations, compromising the independence of the House.

“There was failure to adhere to the stipulated dictates of the law in awarding Sh2.1 billion road tarmacking contracts against an approved total Roads, Transport, Public Works and Utilities budget of Sh1.4 billion in the financial year 2018/2019,” Mr Kinuthia said.

Mr Waititu is also accused of exhibiting gross misconduct by usurping the powers of the County Public Service Board and, in effect, directly hiring staff on casual basis as directors and assistant directors, as well as sub-county administrators and ward administrators.

Separately, a section of MCAs have approached the Supreme Court seeking an advisory opinion whether terms of bail can be imposed that are tantamount to suspending a governor by way of denying him access to office.

They are aggrieved that by a court order dated July 30, Mr Waititu was barred from setting foot in any Kiambu County office, including his office as governor, or even performing functions of that office pending the determination of his trial before the anti-corruption court.

“The continued barring of the elected governor of Kiambu from accessing his office for a number of months has made it impractical to perform his duties which entail a key role in the management and operations of the affairs of the county government. The operations are now on the verge of total collapse and complete paralysis,” lawyer Wilfred Nyamu said in court papers.