Former Nyandarua Governor, Daniel Waithaka Mwangi and former County Executive Committee Member for Water and Natural Resources, Grace Wanjiru Gitonga, are now facing prosecution over Ksh 50M misuse.
The former governor was found guilty of abuse of office and failure to comply with procurement laws. Similarly, Ms. Grace Wanjiru Gitonga was convicted on two counts, failure to comply with procurement laws and for initiating a project without prior planning.
EACC commenced an investigation following an allegation of corruption and procurement irregularities in the award of a tender for consultancy services to develop a County Water Master Plan and design the Ol Kalou Town Sewerage System.
It was alleged that the tender was awarded to an Israeli firm M/S TAHAL International Limited. The investigations revealed that M/S TAHAL International Limited was irregularly awarded the contract. In the contract documents, the Governor signed on behalf of the Nyandarua County Government contrary to the law.
Additionally, and in a strange twist of events, a company by the same name was registered in Kenya in 2016 and was paid Kes. 50,470,513 through a bank account in Tel Aviv, Israel. Immediately after the payment, the ‘consultant’ fled never to be traced again.
In spite of the said payment having been made, no services were rendered. Governor Waithaka was found guilty of 2 counts; the offence of Abuse of office, and willful failure to comply with the law relating to procurement, whereas the former CEC Water Ms. Grace Gitonga was found guilty of 2 counts – the offence of engaging in a project without prior planning and that of willful failure to comply with the laws relating to procurement.
The matter is coming up for mention on 20th March 2025 to confirm the criminal records of the accused persons before sentencing.
