Details have now emerged on how former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu used private companies to siphon money from public coffers for his benefit in a Sh588 million corruption case.

On the day that Waititu was slapped with a Sh53.5 million fine or a 12-year prison sentence, People Daily learned that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) had started recovering unexplained assets worth Sh1.9 billion from the former governor. The civil case is awaiting judgement.

The Kiambu County government paid a private firm the money before Waititu transferred it to different accounts and stole it, the EACC said.

The money from the county government landed in the account of Testimony Enterprises Ltd, which was irregularly awarded a tender and is owned by one Charles Chege and his wife.

Waititu and daughter

Some Sh6 million would later be transferred from the company account to Lake Naivasha Resort, which later purported to have sold Bienvenue hotel in the Nairobi city centre to Waititu.

Meanwhile, Sh134,008,620.70 million was transferred from Testimony Enterprises to Charles Chege, a director of the company. Upon the money landing in Chege’s account, he transferred Sh2 million to Bienvenue hotel, which Waititu and wife had bought from Lake Naivasha Resort.

During the same period, Sh8,410,500 was transferred from Testimony Enterprises to Saika Two Estate Developers, a company owned by Waititu and his daughter.

The same Saika Two Estate, together with Lake Naivasha Resort and Bienvenue hotel, transferred a total of Sh25 million to Waititu’s own account.

Testimony Enterprises transferred another Sh5,214,000 to Bienvenue hotel, which later transferred the money to Waititu’s account.

Advice disregarded

Delivering his sentence in the case, Milimani Anti-Corruption Court Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzioki considered the evidence of Justus Bundi, the county’s procurement boss.

Bundi had testified that Lucas Wahinya, the chief officer for roads and public works at the time, disregarded his opinion on gaps that needed to be addressed before the tender could be awarded.

Waititu, his wife and other county officials were charged on July 29, 2019 in the corruption case.

The former governor faced charges of conflict of interest, dealing with suspect property, money laundering and abuse of office.

Prosecutors had alleged that Saika Two Estate Ltd, which is owned by Waititu and his wife, received more than Sh25 million from Testimony Enterprises, a firm contracted by the county government to develop roads through irregular tendering.

The tender in question was for upgrading several gravel roads in Thika, Limuru, Gatundu North, Juja and Ruiru sub-counties in the 2017-18 financial year.

Waititu’s defence lawyers – Danstan Omari and Sam Nyaberi, who joined the case only yesterday – asked to be supplied with records of the proceedings and judgment so they could appeal in the High Court.

On Thursday February 13, 2025,  Waititu was  ordered to pay a Sh53.5 million fine or spend 12 years in prison after being found guilty of corruption-related charges.

His wife Susan Wangari was ordered to pay Sh500,000 or spend one year behind bars.

She paid the fine but Waititu and other co-convicts were escorted to prison when they failed to raise the fines.

Magistrate Nzioki also barred the convicts from holding any public office for 10 years.

Hospital request

As for Chege, the director of Testimony Enterprises, the court ordered him to deposit a fine of Sh295 million or spend the next nine years behind bars.

His wife Beth Wangeci was ordered to pay a fine of Sh1.4 million or spend two years in prison.

Wahinya, the former roads official, is required to deposit a fine of Sh21 million or in default spend seven years in prison.

Nzioki directed that the convicts be escorted to the Industrial Area Prison.

After the sentencing, Waititu requested to be escorted to a hospital but the magistrate directed that the issue be handled by prison authorities.

Waititu and his co-accused were charged with fraud, conflict of interest, dealing with suspect property, money laundering, and abuse of office, all arising from the alleged fraudulent awarding of tenders to a company owned by the Waititu family.

‘Inevitable conclusion’

Nzioki said the prosecutors proved that Waititu failed to adhere to the values of national governance and to safeguard public funds when he received Sh25 million from Testimony Enterprises after the awarding of the irregular tender.

He said the testimony of 32 witnesses and documentary evidence proved that Sh25 million was disbursed to him as a direct consequence of the awarding of the tender.

“The inevitable conclusion is that Waititu is liable for conflict of interest by acquiring an indirect personal interest of Sh25 million from testimony,” said the magistrate.

The money was channelled through his company Saika Two Developers and Bienvenue hotel during his tenure as governor of Kiambu.

“This is a case of a classic example of conflict of interest and debunks the much-hyped theory of political witch hunt as claimed by Waititu,” the court said.