It was bogus, Governor Waititu writes to Senate protesting his impeachment

Embattled Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu (pictured) has written to the Senate protesting that his impeachment was irregular.

The Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka acknowledged the receipt of the letter from the Governor and, however, said he will not act on it since he had not been notified of the impeachment.

“I have not yet received any notification from the Kiambu County Assembly Speaker regarding the impeachment of Governor Waititu.  My office will act accordingly once we receive the communication and documents in evidence of the House proceedings on December 19, 2019,” Lusaka said. 

Waititu had informed the Senate that he assigned his lawyer Ndengwa Njiru in the company of another advocate, Antony Kago, who sat through the impeachment debate and whose attendance was captured by the Hansard.

The letter from Ndegwa & Ndegwa Associates, the besieged Governor terms the impeachment unprocedural as it lacked the quorum.

“From the commencement, the Assembly did not have the requisite statutory quorum at any particular time… The number of the Members of the Assembly is 92, thus the statutory quorum required under Section 33(2) of the County Governments Act to pass such a special motion is 62 members.”

Waititu accused the Speaker of the Assembly of doctoring the numbers saying, 35 MCAs were absent during the motion.  Thirty MCAs were at Lake Bogoria Lodge and three MCAs were in Dubai on official duty.

“The Speaker of the Assembly is in the process of doctoring and falsifying the Assembly’s records relating to the CCTV footage, the Hansard and the biometric logs captured,” he added.

On Thursday, Speaker Stephen Ndichu announced Waititu’s impeachment. He said 63 Members of the County Assembly voted in favour of his removal, 28 failed to turn up for the session.

One MCA voted against the impeachment motion tabled by Ndenderu MCA Solomon Kinuthia.

He accused the governor of engaging in corrupt dealings, abuse of office and gross misconduct.

In the motion, Waititu was accused of violating public procurement rules and conflict of interest after it emerged that tenders in the county were awarded to companies owned by his relatives.

He was also accused of breaching the county procedures by hiring casual workers without the involvement of the County Service Board.

On December 10, an impeachment against Waititu and his deputy James Nyoro failed to take off after it emerged that the grounds for the impeachment did not meet the legal threshold.

Kiambu Assembly Speaker Steven Ndichu confirmed the postponement of the debate for failure to adhere to set guidelines.

MCAs allied to Governor Waititu snubbed the sitting.

“This communication is to confirm that the same motions will be considered next week by the assembly per the constitutional, relevant laws and standing orders,” he said.

The motion was also deferred to allow the MCAs to furnish the governor with adequate notice and respond to the allegations.

Waititu was barred from his office in September by Chief Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi after he was arraigned alongside his wife over corruption.