Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu appealed to an anticorruption court to exonerate him from all charges in the Kes.588 million graft case.
Waititu testified before trial Magistrate Thomas Nzyuki, alleging that the corruption charges were fabricated due to his strong support for President William Ruto during the 2022 succession politics.
Baba Yao told the court that he was a prominent advocate for the TangaTanga movement in Kiambu. He claimed that his support for Ruto led to his arrest and subsequent prosecution by the then-ruling class.
“I supported the President so much. At the time he was the deputy president. I was sacrificed in a wider political war linked to the 2022 succession politics,” he said.
Waititu claimed that the corruption case against him was orchestrated to force him out of office.
“It was a scheme. This was a political witchhunt. The case was started to hound me out of office. They succeeded because when I was charged, one of the conditions when bail terms were set was that I should not go back to the office,” Waititu said
He recounted how his impeachment followed his indictment, allegedly under the direction of the former government. He alleged that bribery influenced the Senate’s decision during his impeachment proceedings.
“Senators were bribed to uphold my impeachment,” he claimed.
In his plea for acquittal, Waititu urged magistrate Nzyuki to consider the numerous cases that former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji withdrew due to alleged misleading information from then Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti.
He highlighted that the former DPP had publicly admitted that many corruption cases during the former regime were influenced by political pressures.
“It is equally important to highlight that the former DPP has gone on live and on the record to admit that the majority if not all corruption cases instituted during the former regime were actually informed by the prevailing political forces,” Waititu said.
He also argued that it wasn’t unusual for his account to receive Kes. 600,000, citing his wife’s involvement in selling fuel products and imports.
“Even today my wife sells fuel products and imports…it’s not unique for Chege to pay the Ksh.600,000 to the account,” the politician explained.
In 2019, Waititu, his wife Susan Wangari, Testimony Enterprises, its directors, and others were charged with irregularly awarding a Kes.588,198,328.20 road tender in Kiambu County.
The prosecution concluded its case last year after presenting 32 witnesses and numerous documentary pieces of evidence.
The proceedings will resume today for further hearing.
