Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu and his wife Susan Wangari have been convicted on corruption charges relating to the Sh588 million road tender.
The verdict, delivered by Millimani Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzyoki on Wednesday, concluded a five-year legal battle investigated and prosecuted by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
Waititu was convicted alongside his wife Wangari, businessman Charles Mbuthia Chege, his wife Beth Wangechi, and former Kiambu Roads Chief Officer Luka Mwangi Wahinya after being found guilty of a corruption scheme to defraud the county government millions of shillings.
The fraudulent tender worth Sh588,198,328 was awarded by the county government in February 2018 to Testimony Enterprises Ltd. It involved upgrading of several roads in Kiambu, Thika, Limuru, Gatundu North, Juja and Ruiru.
While convicting the former governor, the magistrate noted that Waititu failed to honour the oath of office and to safeguard public funds.
He also dismissed Waititu’s defense that the case was a political witch-hunt by the previous Jubilee administration over his political relationship with President William Ruto.
“Having painstakingly evaluated the evidence presented by the parties and on careful consideration of the submissions, I am convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that the prosecution has proved the charges against the accused persons,” Nzyoki ruled.
Waititu, once a prominent political figure is now the second governor in the nation’s history to be convicted on corruption charges, after former Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal.
Lenolkulal was sentenced to four years in prison for embezzling more than Sh83 million from his county’s funds over a fuel supply tender.
Nzyoki’s decision marked a significant victory for the country’s ongoing battle against corruption and sent a stern warning to public officials and private contractors alike.
While condemning the former Kiambu county boss to jail, the court found that Waititu himself had a direct personal interest in the tender process.
The magistrate noted that evidence showed that he received Sh25.6 million from Testimony Enterprises, channeled through various companies linked to him, including Saika Two Estate Developers, Bienvenue Delta Hotel Ltd, and Lake Naivasha Resort Ltd.
While Waititu and his wife attempted to justify these payments as legitimate business transactions for services such as hotel accommodations and petroleum supply, the court deemed their defense self-incriminating.
Magistrate Nzyoki maintained that the defense presented by Waititu and his wife lacked credibility, pointing to their own admissions of trading with Testimony Enterprises and receiving suspicious payments.
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“Their defense is self-incriminating and bears admissions that Bienvenue Delta Hotel, a business name owned by the governor and his wife, was directly trading with Testimony Enterprises Limited by supplying oil and petroleum products and offering conference and catering services,” said the magistrate.
“The defences raised by Mr Waititu, his wife, and Mr Chege fails to account for the cheques and funds transfer disbursements made by Testimony Enterprises Limited”.
According to Nzyoki, the defences although conflicting, contained unequivocal admission of business dealings between Testimony Enterprises Limited, its director on one part and Waititu’s entity Saika Two Estate Developers.
The court also rejected the notion that the charges against the accused were politically motivated, as had been suggested by Waititu.
Instead, the magistrate affirmed that the prosecution had presented a compelling case, supported by 32 witnesses and 129 pieces of documentary evidence, which established the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.
In addition to Waititu’s conviction on charges of conflict of interest and dealing with suspect property, his wife Wangari was convicted for her role in facilitating these illicit transactions.
Wahinya was found guilty of abuse of office, while Chege and his wife Beth were convicted for their involvement in fraudulent practices related to the tender.
In his judgment, the magistrate detailed how the road project contract was procured fraudulently and awarded to Testimony Enterprises Ltd, whose director is an acquittance of Waititu and his wife Wangari.
Nzyoki explained that the procurement process for the road construction tender was manipulated to favour Testimony Enterprises Ltd, a company with no legitimate qualifications to carry out the high-value contract.
The court was presented with clear evidence of how the tender evaluation process was altered by key county officials, including Wahinya and members of the Tender Evaluation Committee, to benefit the company that had close ties to the accused.
The court specifically pointed to the inclusion of new and unfair evaluation criteria, such as changes in tender serialisation and form, which gave Testimony Enterprises an undue advantage over competing bidders.
“Testimony Enterprises Limited won the tender by manipulation and procurement fraud perpetrated by Luka Mwangi Wahinya (former Roads Chief Officer) and the Tender Evaluation Committee. The inclusion of new criteria during the tender evaluation, serialization, and form of tender gave Testimony Enterprises Limited undue advantage against the other four bidders,” he said.
The magistrate observed that Mwangi manipulated the process of procurement contrary to section 74(1)(i) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015 by omitting serialization and form of tender in the bidding process.
“I have no doubt that the prosecution has established that Testimony Enterprises Limited won the tender in question by deceit and procurement fraud with the aid of Luka Mwangi and the Tender Evaluation Committee. In the circumstances, Luka Mwangi and Mr Charles Chege joined the rank of the first two architects of the corruption scheme which is the subject of the present case,” noted Nzyoki.
This procurement manipulation resulted in the company being awarded the tender despite its apparent lack of the necessary capacity and qualifications to carry out the contract.
Mwangi was convicted for abuse of office as he was “at the centre of the flawed procurement process leading to the award of the road project tender to an unqualified form, Testimony Enterprises”.
One of the most damning elements of the case was the revelation that Charles Chege, the director of Testimony Enterprises, submitted forged academic credentials to bolster his company’s credibility.
The magistrate declared the tender as illegal, null and void stating that it was won fraudulently as Chege used forged academic credentials showing that his company had skilled personnel to undertake the contract.
The court ruled that Testimony won the tender based on falsified documents and fake partnership agreements with a Chinese firm, China Wu Yi Company Limited to further deceive the tender evaluation committee into believing that Testimony Enterprises had the required expertise.
This is after Chege admitted to submitting the forged documents to secure the contract during his defence. The Prosecution informed court Chege had forged documents from the University of Nairobi and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
After Waititu and his co-accused were convicted, the prosecution urged the court to impose a harsh sentence, citing the serious nature of the offences and their detrimental impact on the people of Kiambu County and Kenya at large.
“We are calling for a stern sentence to serve as a deterrent. Corruption is a cancer that is suffocating the economic progress of our country. The gravity of the offences must be reflected in the punishment,” said State prosecutor Faith Mwila.
They were held in custody pending sentencing at 10.30am Thursday.
