Wavinya jets back, vows to crush cartels tarnishing her name

Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti (second right) introduces her son, Charles Oduwale moments after landing at JKIA yesterday. She dismissed claims she had been detained in the UK over money laundering. [Erastus Mulwa, Standard]

Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti jetted back into the country Monday afternoon after a nearly three-week stay in the United Kingdom, immediately dismissing speculations that she and her son had been detained by authorities in London over alleged money laundering.

Wavinya and her son Charles Oduwale landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, arousing a welcome by several MCAs, senior county executive staff, and a host of local residents.

Wavinya then proceeded to Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, where she addressed a press conference with a blunt message that she will not relent in her fight against cartels.

“I am aware that the masters of the networks of corruption are not happy with what I am doing for the benefit of the people of Machakos. I will tighten things further. We shall choke you out of the revenue streams and starve you and your networks of evil. We will hound you,” a seemingly charged Wavinya declared.

She went on: “The schemes you had established are crumbling right before your eyes. We know you. We will not allow you to deny the people, the children of Machakos what is rightfully theirs by way of services.”

The governor sought to clear the air over her ‘extended’ stay in the UK.

“I was in the UK alongside other governors, where I sourced firefighting equipment for the county before getting preoccupied with settling my daughter who was joining university there. I was not under any arrest. I am happy to be back home with my son. His father passed away in 2016, and there is no way a son can be far from his mother. Those making wild allegations of hundreds of millions of shillings must be crazy. They should know that I do not fear them. I am answerable to God,” she said.

Wavinya said social media reports of her alleged arrest over money laundering were manufactured by her political opponents, who have been working with criminals.

She explained that having a diplomatic passport, there is no way the Kenyan government may not have been briefed by UK authorities about her arrest in a foreign country.

“By sanitising procurement processes and enforcing legal compliance, we have disrupted the cartels that once controlled county contracts, isolating those with vested interests,” Wavinya said.

The governor said some of the reforms she had undertaken after taking over as governor had enraged many people who had been working against her. 

As the wild allegations of Wavinya and her son’s arrest in London gained traction on local social media spaces last week, the county administration convened a press conference at the governor’s office where County Secretary Muya Ndambuki called on State agencies to swiftly launch investigations into the matter.

Dr. Ndambuki vowed the county government would relentlessly pursue legal action against individuals behind the publication of false and demeaning information against the governor.

“It is with the foregoing in view that the entire literature must now be placed before the relevant arms of the State to ensure that they trace the subject content to its origination, roots, branches as well as the motivation that has underpinned the same,” Dr Muya said.

The County Secretary noted that the said content conveyed a package of established falsehoods, saying the county government of Machakos had distanced itself from the entire network of lies and untruths.

“There now exists a possibility that the County Government shall consider pursuing the most appropriate and relevant options available within the Constitution in safeguarding the interests and rights that accrue in that regard,” he said.

Earlier, Wavinya had warned online trolls through her Facebook page.

"We shall identify, pursue and bring before the law all those peddling baseless rumors and fake news. This amounts to defamation and misuse of electronic media spread falsehoods. Such malicious misinformation has created perceptions against me and family members that endanger our lives,” the governor said.