Former governor found guilty in Sh50m tender scam

When former Nyandarua Governor Waithaka Mwangi appeared before Senate Assembly Public Accounts and Investment Committee at Parliament on April 7, 2016, over audit queries. [File, Standard]

Former Nyandarua Governor Waithaka Mwangi and a senior official have been found guilty in a Sh50 million corruption case.

Mwangi and former Water and Natural Resources CEC, Grace Gitonga, were found culpable for their involvement in the irregular tender.

Nyahururu Chief Magistrate Evans Hezekiah Keago ruled on Thursday that the former governor abused his office and failed to comply with procurement laws.

Gitonga was found guilty of failing to comply with procurement laws and for initiating a project without prior planning.

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) argued that the two broke the law by engaging a consultant without a procurement plan for the 2013/14 financial year, in April, 2014,

It was alleged that the tender was awarded to an Israeli firm, Tahal International Ltd, owned by Chen Yochanan Ofer and Albert Attias.

Investigations revealed that Tahal International was irregularly awarded the contract for consultancy services to develop a county water master plan and to design Ol Kalou town sewerage system.

In the contract documents, the governor signed on behalf of the Nyandarua County Government contrary to the law, as only the chief officers of respective departments, who are the accounting officers, are authorised to enter into contracts on behalf of a county government

Further, it is alleged at the time of entering into a contract with the county government, Tahal International did not have a local subsidiary and the two Israel nationals who had presented themselves as representatives of the company were in fact not known to the said firm.

Additionally, and in a strange twist of events, a company by the same name was registered in Kenya in 2016 and was paid Sh50,470,513 by the county government in two installments of Sh23,895,513 and Sh26,575,000 through a bank account in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Immediately after the payment, a consultant allegedly fled never to be traced.

Despite the said payment having been made, no services were rendered.

The two will be sentenced on March 20, 2025.

EACC has since secured the conviction of former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu who was found guilty of conflict of interest and sentenced to 12 years in prison or a fine of Sh52 million.