Embattled Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu has made several desperate attempts to have his case dropped.
Apart from reaching out to the Deputy President William Ruto, the governor has also been making frantic efforts to speak to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The President has not met Waititu but the governor has been attending presidential functions with the hope of speaking to him.
The governor has also written to the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji asking for a plea bargain which has also been rejected.
Waititu and his wife Susan Wangari were charged in July with six counts over a Sh580 million irregular tender.
Yesterday Waititu did not deny or confirm that he had made several efforts to have his case dropped.
“Who told you,” he retorted.
During the burial of Peter Kenneth’s mother Rahab Wambui in July, Waititu made desperate attempts to speak to the President about his case.
“When he got a chance he asked the President to help him get the charges dropped but he was told to carry his own cross,” a source aware of the developments said.
On Wednesday Waititu made yet another attempt to speak to the President during the launch of the Nairobi - Naivasha train service without success.
The President’s security detail kept him away even he wanted to join a photo session governors Alfred Mutua (Machakos) Joseph Ole Lenku (Kajiado) and Mike Sonko (Nairobi) had with Uhuru.
“I was there in my capacity as the Governor of Kiambu. What was wrong with that,” Waititu asked.
Haji is understood to have dismissed Waititu’s proposal saying it does not meet the threshold for a plea bargain.
Waititu had written to the DPP with his version of a plea bargain proposal.
He offered to pay the money said to have been lost in his case in exchange for all the charges being dropped so that he can walk back into office.
In his request, Waititu said paying back the money was sufficient and he should not be punished further.
Instead, he should be allowed to resume duties as soon as the settlement is recorded.
But Haji rejected the offer and outlined tough conditions that Waititu must meet if he wants to enter a plea bargain.
The DPP told Waititu that he must first plead guilty to the offences, pay the money and serve a sentence of not less than six months.
“These are criminal offences and you cannot say all I want is to pay back the money that is lost. No way. You must be punished for the offences you committed with a sentence of not less than six months,” Haji told Citizen TV.
If Waititu pleads guilty and is sentenced to at least six months he will lose his seat.
A plea bargain is a negotiated arrangement in which an accused person agrees to plead guilty to charges in return for some concession from the prosecutor.
This may mean the defendant pleading guilty to a less serious charge or to one of several charges in return for the dismissal of others.
It may also mean the defendant pleading guilty to the original criminal charge in return for a more lenient sentence.
The DPP launched guidelines on plea bargaining on Tuesday.
Waititu has been locked out from his offices following an August ruling by Justice Mumbi Ngugi affecting county bosses charged with economic crimes.
In the ruling, Justice Ngugi held that governors, just like other civil servants, should step aside once charged with criminal offences and their roles taken over by their deputies for the duration of the trial.
Waititu’s deputy, James Nyoro, with whom they have had a falling out in the recent past, has been running the county
(edited by O. Owino)
