Three county officials arrested, police looking for Governor Waititu and wife

Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu.

Sleuths from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) have today arrested three county officials over alleged graft in Kiambu County.

The three identified as Joyce Ng’ina Musyoka, Simon Kabocho Kang’ethe and Charles Chege Mbuthia have been linked to the alleged embezzlement of sh588 million public funds in Kiambu County.

The arrests come barely hours after the Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji ordered the arrest and prosecution of Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu and 12 other county employees over alleged graft.

In a statement to media houses, DPP Haji said the county officials will face charges of irregular award of tenders worth Sh588 million and embezzlement of public funds.

Early last week, EACC tabled damning evidence to prove that Governor Waititu allegedly used money gotten from kickbacks from a contractor to partly buy a hotel on Nairobi’s University Way.

A trail of bank transfers released by EACC revealed that the company that sold to Waititu the Delta Hotel, known as Lake Naivasha Resort received Sh6 million from a road contractor who was awarded the tender under alleged influence of the governor.

The money is thought to have been part of the payment for the acquisition of the hotel which Waititu earlier told the media cost him hundreds of millions. Waititu also bought another prime building located at the intersection of Biashara Street and Koinange Street also worth hundreds of millions.

Questions were raised earlier over the source of the money that the governor used to pay for the two buildings, but he explained that he sold two petrol stations along Kangundo Road in Nairobi and topped it up with a bank loan.