Embattled Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu on Thursday suffered another setback after he lost a case where he allegedly grabbed a property valued at Sh100 million from a Kiambu widow.
The Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ), popularly known as the Office of the Government Ombudsman, made the decision after establishing that the Kiambu Governor had illegally transferred the land from Cicilia Mbugua and registered it to Esther Nyatu.
Ms Mbugua had approached the Kiambu County Government for approvals to develop the land in 2013 after which she was given the nod.
However, after Waititu took office in 2017, he revoked the approvals and claimed that the land belonged to Kiambu Jua Kali artisans.
The widow further testified that she was summoned to Mr Waititu’s office and given an ultimatum to surrender two of five plots that she owns or never get the county’s approval to develop the land.
She ultimately succumbed after which the land was transferred to Ms Nyatu – who was not informed of the transfer.
CAJ Chairperson Florence Kajuju said that apart from the revocation of the transfer, the matter would also be forwarded to the DPP for Waititu to be criminally prosecuted.
“We will hand over our report to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. We are not allowed to prosecute. We follow our investigations and if we find a criminal element then we forward the same to the relevant offices,” Ms Kajuju.
Waititu has already been suspended from office as he battles criminal charges relating to corrupt allocation of tenders to companies owned by friends and wife Susan Ndung’u.
