Detectives fail to track down Governor Waititu and wife

Detectives spent the better part of Friday night and Saturday hunting for besieged Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu and his wife with no success.

The Nation learnt that the detectives visited the embattled governor’s three known residences in Runda, Garden Estate and near Ridgeways on Kiambu Road but failed to find him and his wife Susan Ndung’u.

They also raided the couple’s known hangouts including a hotel and a newly opened eatery in Nairobi’s central business district and extended the search to a social joint where he frequents in Nakuru but equally failed to trace them.

Detectives privy to the search for Mr Waititu revealed that they managed to trace one of the governor’s mobile phones to his Runda residence but failed to find the couple.

CAT-AND-MOUSE GAME

The pair appeared to have abandoned the phones at home in a cat-and-mouse game with the detectives.

The detectives also discovered that the mobile phones of the governor’s aides and close family members were switched off.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption CEO Twalib Mbarak said in a statement that his officers had not found the governor in “his known residences at the time of the planned arrests”.

Mr Mbarak announced that the commission had managed to arrest three of the suspects while the others numbering seven including the governor were still at large.

The suspects who have so far been arrested are Charles Mbuthia, a director at Testimony Enterprises Limited, Joyce Musyoka and Simon Kangethe, both members of the tender evaluation committee in Kiambu county government.

“The other suspects including governor Ferdinand Ndungu Waititu Babayao, his wife Susan Wangari Ndungu, Eng. Luka Mwangi Waihenya — chief officer Roads and other county officials were not traced at their known residences at the time of the planned arrests,” Mr Mbarak said in a statement in which he asked that they hand over themselves to the police.

SH580 MILLION

Other suspects who are still at large include Beth Wangechi, Zacharia Mbugua, Anselin Wanjiku and Samuel Mugo.

The suspects are being sought to face charges of the irregular awarding of tenders amounting to Sh580 million.

On Friday, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji ordered for the arrest of Mr Waititu's and nine others to face charges over allegations of irregular procurement of a tender for the upgrading of various gravel roads to bituminous surface in the county, awarded to M/s Testimony Enterprises Ltd worth Sh588 million during the financial year 2017/2018.

It is alleged that the directors of M/s Testimony Enterprises were close associates of the governor and they had already been paid Sh147.3 million.

The firm was also awarded several other contracts amounting to over Sh74 million. Once the funds were paid from Kiambu county government, Sh25.6 million was remitted to entities associated with the governor.

INVESTIGATIONS

But in a twist in the investigations, Mr Haji spared Mr Waititu’s daughter Dr Monica Njeri Ndung’u, who the EACC had listed as a cog in the fraudulent activities at the county government.

“The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission in their amended report had recommended the prosecution of Monica Njeri Ndung’u, a co-director with Ferdinand Ndung’u Waititu in Saika Two Estate Developers Ltd. However, upon review, we find that she was a sleeping director and not active in the affairs of the company. Her explanation is reasonable,” Mr Haji explained.

The governor is accused of using Sh18.4 million for the development of Saika Two Estate and another Sh7.2 million as part of the funds he used to acquire the Delta Hotel located within Nairobi’s CBD.

Mr Waititu and the other suspects face several charges among them conflict of interest, dealings with suspect property, abuse of office, wilful failure to comply with the law relating to procurement, money laundering, fraudulent acquisition of public property and engaging in a fraudulent practice in procurement.