Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu has sent emissaries to reach out to ODM leader Raila Odinga to plead with Uhuru Kenyatta to drop the corruption cases facing him.
Last week, the governor held private talks with Kiambu branch ODM officials where he prevailed upon them to facilitate his meeting with Raila.
However, the officials were non-committal only assuring him that they would do their best to reach out to Raila.
This came barely a week after Waititu was kicked out of the VIP podium in Mombasa during the Mashujaa Day celebrations. He has since denied that he was ever kicked out of the venue.
More trouble is on the way for the combative governor after a lobby group started collecting signatures to petition his removal.
Uhuru appears to be avoiding the governor due to corruption cases he is facing before court.
And now, a lobby group has kicked off a drive to collect signatures to kick him from office no matter what.
The exercise dubbed Okoa Kiambu, launched last week, seeks to collect the signatures which will eventually lead to a petition to kick out the governor out, should it sail through in the county assembly as required under the law.
The coordinator of the lobby Hoswell Kinuthia told journalists their move was informed by the decision of the court to bar Waititu from office due to an ongoing corruption case against him.
Kinuthia claimed the governor had allegedly failed in Chapter 6 of the constitution on leadership and integrity after being charged in court with corruption.
Wanja Wagichungumwa, another lobby group member called on residents to turn up in large numbers and append their signatures on the petition.
Waititu has been out of office after he was charged in July with six counts over Sh588 million irregular tendering.
Deputy governor James Nyoro has been the acting governor since the court barred his boss from office.
Already, Kiambu MCAs have started the process of kicking out Waititu’s allies from the cabinet.
Last week, 62 out of 92 MCAs signed a motion to impeach sports, youth and ICT executive Karungowa Thangwa, a key ally of Waititu.
The ward representatives accused the executive of incompetence, gross misconduct and abuse of office.
The notice of motion was tabled at the county assembly by nominated MCA Margaret Njeri.
Njeri accused Thangwa of failing to offer leadership in the implementation of budgeted programmes that target youths such as the Jijenge Fund, Kiambu Super Cup and driving lessons programme.
She said the executive also failed to provide relevant information as demanded by the assembly’s sports committee.
Thangwa is also accused of illegally procuring the services of Rafiki Bank as a financial institution to disburse the fund.
He is also alleged to have engaged in politics by displaying gross insubordination to acting governor James Nyoro to the detriment of the interests of the youth.
In July, Thangwa was summoned by the assembly committee on youth and sports after being accused of ignoring the MCAs whenever called upon to answer to queries arising from his department.
The queries included claims that Sh5,538,500 was spent on the super cup tournament to award teams and for transport logistics and training of coaches, referees and officials. The tournament was not completed with participants claiming they were not paid despite money being used.
The MCAs said the department unnecessarily spent Sh1,915,500 in the launch of the tournament. Njeri said many youths were disappointed after staying at the tournament for the whole day without food.
She said the youths were not reimbursed for their transport money as was promised.
However, Thangwa defended the tournament, saying it was conducted with live media coverage and to acceptable standards. He said less money was spent as compared to other county government functions.
Thangwa is said to be at loggerheads with Nyoro after pledging loyalty to Waititu. He is reported to have stated that he doesn’t recognize Nyoro as the county boss.
Back to Waititu, he has been trying every means to have the corruption cases against him dropped.