Anti-graft sleuths grill Waititu for 8 hours

Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu with EACC officials after he was arrested over corruption allegations. [Beverlyne Musili]

Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu and his daughter were questioned for more than eight hours at the anti-graft offices on suspected graft.

The two and other county officials arrived at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) offices in Nairobi shortly before 10am and left at 6pm.

They were appearing before the EACC officers for the second time following last week’s raid on their premises in Nairobi in the ongoing graft investigations

According to EACC CEO Twalib Mbarak, the commission is investigating tender awards valued at Sh588 million suspected to have been awarded to companies associated with Waititu and members of his immediate family.

Paid monies

“Preliminary investigations show the contractors paid monies to senior county officials, their companies or relatives through proxies,” said Mr Mbarak.

The commission is also investigating suspect acquisition of public funds, conflict of interest and money laundering.

Waititu has denied any wrong doing.

Apart from the governor’s Runda and Garden estates, the anti-graft officials also raided the Nairobi residence of his daughter, Nduta, and the homes of 10 other county officials.

The commission, the CEO said, has been conducting a lifestyle audit on Waititu and has gathered crucial information that they are now using as the basis for ongoing investigations.

According to Mbarak valuable evidence was recovered during searches on the governor’s and county official’s premises.

Search operations

“Search operations were conducted by EACC on May 23 in the homes and offices of the governor, his family members, directors of private companies and 10 senior employees of the county government,” he said.

The files on the governor, daughter and other county staff are set to be taken to the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, with various recommendations.

Waititu had, hours after the EACC officials went to his premises, obtained an anticipatory bail for his release.

The EACC is also actively probing three other governors — one from the Rift Valley region and two others from lower Eastern.

The three are being investigated on unexplained wealth accumulation, procurement issues and abuse of office.