Witness now says Mwau played no role in seedlings scandal

Makueni: Deputy Governor Adelina Mwau has moved to clear her name after a witness appearing before the commission probing a petition to dissolve the county government linked her to a tree-planting scandal in which millions of shillings were lost.

Cross-examining the county assembly's Majority Leader Francis Mutuku yesterday, counsel for the executive arm of the county government, Wilfred Nyamu, challenged the witness to table evidence linking the deputy governor to the saga.

While giving his testimony on Tuesday, Mr Mutuku made damning allegations against Ms Mwau, claiming she was involved in supplying tree seedlings and received money as payment in areas where no such trees were planted.

But Mutuku did not bring to the commission any evidence linking Mwau to the scandal and instead said the county's finance executive should be made to produce the evidence.

This did not go down well with Mr Nyamu who complained to the commission's chairman, Mohamed Nyaoga.

"Chairman, we can't proceed like this. This commission cannot allow witnesses to come here and make wild allegations without tabling any documentary evidence. That will amount to misuse of this commission," Nyamu said, adding that Mwau was a person of high public standing.

Mr Nyaoga agreed with the counsel and admonished Mutuku, saying that because he made the allegations, he ought to have produced evidence.

Show proof

"This is a matter that is under probe. However, this commission will not allow witnesses to make allegations, wild or otherwise, without providing evidence," Nyaoga warned.

Beating a hasty retreat from his earlier stand when he directly implicated Mwau in the scandal that reportedly saw over Sh100 million lost, Mutuku yesterday told the commission it was Mwau's personal assistant, Daniel Kyalo, who was involved.

Mutuku said Mr Kyalo was the co-ordinator of a ward committee that was involved in the project in which tree seedlings were allegedly procured but there was little to show for them on the ground.

He claimed Kyalo was sacked after the scandal was unearthed.

Challenged to show proof that Kyalo was Mwau's assistant at the time, Mutuku said he had none.

"I am not sure if he was appointed formally or informally," he said.

Meanwhile Peter Mwanthi, a witness who allegedly lied to the commission while under oath, appeared before the commission and sought to distance himself from an organisation he claimed to chair.

Mr Mwanthi told the commission he wanted to be probed on his own behalf and not that of the Makueni County Amani Association, which he said had no registered members but only prospective ones.

He said the association was not registered.