Kiambu MCAs impeach Waititu

Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu has been impeached.

During Thursday’s sitting, 63 Kiambu ward representatives voted to have Mr Waititu ousted while 28 were absent.

Only Kiambu Township Ward Rep Anthony Ikonya Mwaniki, a close ally of Mr Waititu, opposed the impeachment.

He was later kicked out of the assembly by Speaker Stephen Ndichu for being unruly.

Earlier, the Speaker had adjourned the debate on technicalities, but it resumed at 3.45pm.

The focus now shifts to the judiciary Friday, where Mr Waititu expects to get a ruling on his application to be reinstated to office after he was barred from going there until his graft case is determined.

Ndenderu MCA Solomon Kinuthia, who moved the motion, accused Mr Waititu of abetting corruption, direct conflict of interest, with the governor’s family accused of doing business with the county, and over-budgeting in the roads department for kick-backs

“This is a big win for the people of Kiambu. We have shown that our fight was against impunity, corruption, and wastage in Kiambu County, and we hope that the next step involving the Senate to fully oust Mr Waititu will go through,” Mr Kinuthia told Nation after the vote.

Mr Elijah Njoroge, the MCA for Biashara Ward in Ruiru, said that by impeaching Mr Waititu, they had voted out greed, corruption and conflict of interest.

“Our fight against Mr Waititu is a fight against corruption and impunity. The governor had made the county a family business, doing multimillion-shilling business transactions with both his family members and his proxies in order to get kick-backs,” Mr Njoroge said.

Mr Waititu’s political star, which had been steadily rising, began waning after he was charged in court.

The governor, together with his wife, Ms Susan Wangari, and eight others are facing graft cases after being accused of irregularly awarding themselves Sh580 million tenders.

Since he was implicated in graft and barred from accessing the county headquarters, Dr Nyoro has been acting as the governor.