Baba Yao's quest for freedom, and why snake oil salesmen are hovering around

Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu at Milimani Law Courts, Nairobi, on March 26, 2025. [Collins Kweyu, Standard]

It's strange so many Kenyans are surprised that former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu aka Baba Yao is still in jail. Strange because Baba Yao was convicted for corruption by a competent court of law and committed to 12 years in prison. He hasn't served even a month, so he's got a long way to go.

Waititu, too, is in a rush to get out, a fact that he shared is being exploited by snake oil salesmen who have been trooping to the prison and sell Freedom Charter: For a fee of Sh10m to Sh15m, they say, they can grease enough palms to prise open the prison doors and proclaim: Ferdie is Free!

Baba Yao says this is because those charlatans believe he stole money from Kiambu county. He is also miffed at the small trickle of visitors who go to see him, besides journos and the aforementioned snake oil salesmen.

The truth of the matter is that it was mainly Baba Yao's spouse and offspring who were alleged to have received irregular payments from the county. So, it is his family that should be visiting him, only that they, too, could be in prison.

A fun-fact: One of the shell companies that Baba Yao reportedly used to steal money from Kiambu county is called Testimony Enterprises. In prison, one of his favourite pastimes is to attend services at the prison chapel.

Not bad at all for a man who reckons all but family, and God, have abandoned him, as he waits to fight his way out of prison.