• In the impeachment motion, the ward reps accused Waititu of lacking accountability in managing county resources hence plunging it into a Sh4 billion debt.
• This, they said, amounted to gross violation of the Constitution and Public Finance Management Act.
Embattled Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu on Tuesday put up a spirited fight in the Senate to reverse his impeachment.
Waititu dismissed as propaganda, the gross misconduct, abuse of office, conflict of interest and violation of the Constitution grounds that the MCAs cited to remove him from office in December last year.
“Listen to the facts and evidence but not propaganda. Kiambu is known for serious propagandists. It is my hope that you don’t judge me based on that please,” he said.
The trial continues on Wednesday where the governor, through his team of lawyers, will defend himself before all the 67 senators.
Later in the afternoon, the lawmakers will hold a closed-door session where they will discuss the submission before returning to an open session to take a vote.
In the impeachment motion, the ward reps accused Waititu of lacking accountability in managing county resources hence plunging it into a Sh4 billion debt.
This, they said, amounted to gross violation of the Constitution and Public Finance Management Act.
They accused Waititu of awarding tenders worth billions of shillings to his kin, including wife and children.
The ward reps also said the county chief defrauded a widow of a plot of land in Thika and usurped the powers of County Public Service Board when he hired 600 casual workers.
In the charges read out in the chamber, the MCAs said Waititu oversaw the award of a Sh3.3 billion tender for road tarmacking in the county against an approved budget of Sh1.3 billion.
By doing so, he exposed the county to losses through potential suits for breach of contract and poor pending bills.
“Companies registered between October 2017 and March 2019 owned by the wife and daughter of the governor participated and were awarded tenders in Kiambu county without declaring a conflict of interest and were paid expeditiously,” Ndenderu MCA Solomon Kinuthia said.
Kinuthia is the motion sponsor and testified against the governor.
Waititu rubbished the accusations and blamed ‘propagandists and political opponents’ in Kiambu for his woes.
He implored the senators to stick to the facts and evidence as they prosecute the case.
“I should be given justice, as a Kenyan. I should be given justice and that is why the Constitution guarantees fair hearing and judgement,” he said.
He told the lawmakers that they would also appear before the same house should they find themselves in his position.
“Some of you here will be governors in 2022. You will also come here and you will require justice. I was in this compound for two terms as an MP. I am now back,” he said.
Waititu, through his lawyers, protested his impeachment, saying the process was flawed and thus did not meet the constitutional threshold.
He said that the assembly did not have a quorum when the MCAs voted for his removal and asked the Senate to throw out the case.
Waititu also said the ward reps did not give him an opportunity to defend himself.
Further, he questioned the Senate sitting for being convened outside the seven-day period after his impeachment by the assembly as stipulated in the County Government Act.
Kinuthia said Waititu was aware that his wife and daughter had been awarded tenders by the county but failed to disclose the conflict of interest.
“Waititu was in full knowledge that his next of kin was trading with the county. It shows collusion and a conspiracy to defraud the county,” he said.
He also accused Waititu of failing to establish a county budget and economic forum to ensure residents participated in the budget-making process.
The MCA said that the governor facilitated the irregular transfer of 0.135ha of land in January 2018 from Cecilia Mbugua to Wamuyu Nyatu.
The two plots of land were part of the widow's inheritance from her husband.
Last year, the Ombudsman investigated the case and recommended that the ethics agency and crimes investigators probe the governor in connection with the fraud.
Deputy Governor James Nyoro’s legal advisor Erick Kiriko said he wrote to the Ombudsman to probe the matter. He testified against the governor.
Waititu's lawyers led by George Mbugua, discounted the allegations by the two witnesses.