•Kiambu allegedly spent Sh2.5 billion on bizarre functions.
•Residents ask EACC, DPP and DCI to take up the matter, investigate and arrest Waititu.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Thika residents held protests against Governor Ferdinand Waititu’s unsupported expenditure amounting to billions of shillings.
The payments, totalling more than Sh2.1 million, were revealed when the county chief appeared before the Senate County Public Accounts and Investment Committee to answer audit queries.
The official county document presented before the Moses Kajwang’-led committee revealed that the Kiambu County Government allocated Sh973.9 million for coordination of State House Affairs.
It also showed that the Waititu-led government spent Sh793 million on Free Primary Education, which is a National Government function and Sh591 million on State Corporation advisory services.
It also revealed that the county government spent Sh58 million on the Kenya-South Sudan advisory services while administration of statutory benefits for retired presidents gobbled up Sh180 million.
The weird payments have baffled locals, who called on relevant authorities including the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission, Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji and the George Kinoti-led Directorate of Criminal Investigations to arrest and prosecute Waititu for alleged misappropriation of county funds.
Carrying placards and twigs while chanting ‘kaba Kabogo’ (better Kabogo) slogan on Saturday, the protestors said the law allows public arrests and they will arrest the governor should the relevant authorities fail to arrest him.
“It’s absurd that the Governor, who is entitled to protect and fight for the interests of Kiambu people, is the one overseeing such shocking payments. The money should have been spent on developments that benefit Kiambu residents. We want him behind bars and if the mandated authorities fail to arrest him, we will arrest him," shouted an agitated resident.
They said they are tired of Waititu’s administration saying that embezzlement and misappropriation of resources have been rampant unlike during the former governor William Kabogo’s regime.
They also blamed the county boss over what they termed as misplaced priorities. They singled out the Kaa Sober programme, Waititu’s brainchild, that gobbled up more than Sh1 billion.
The programme was aimed at eradicating illicit brew in the county.
It saw the county spend Sh2 million daily on some 5,000 youths who had been recruited from across the county.
“We know they crafted the project as their loophole to siphon money from the county coffers. The youth the county claim were drunkards were actually campaigners for the MCAs and the governor himself. It was wrong for the governor to spend such an amount of money on a few people instead of putting up facilities like a hospital,” said resident Simon Njenga.
Kiambu Town MP Jude Njomo, who spoke a few days before the governor appeared before the senate committee, called on the EACC and the DPP to pitch camp at the Kiambu county offices.
Deputy Governor James Nyoro also claimed county money was being misused, especially the revenue collections including levies from quarries, slaughter houses and parking fees.
“All this money collected daily totaling between Sh6 million to Sh10 million does not reach the county. The money is being misused instead of being spent to benefit Kiambu residents,” Nyoro said in a recent function.
But Waititu, while before the senate committee, defended himself saying the document was doctored by his detractors.
He said the county has neither made any payments for coordination of State House Affairs, the Kenya-South Sudan advisory, statutory benefits for retired benefits nor funded Free Primary Education.
The Senate Committee ordered a fresh audit of the county’s accounts and a report tabled in 45 days.