Waititu’s Runda, Garden Estate homes raided in EACC probe

Three homes belonging to Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu were on Thursday morning raided by detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.

They are said to have arrived as early as 6am but it is not clear what exactly they are searching for.

Reports indicate that the detectives are still holed up at his Runda home.

The third home is reportedly on Kiambu Road near Paradise Lost Resort and Park.

On May 2 this year, questions arose over the Kiambu County Government’s alleged allocation of Ksh.1 billion to functions of the national government.

The Auditor General revealed that the county had budgeted for State House functions, benefits for retired presidents, Free Primary Education and the South Sudan peace program.

In his defence, Waititu insinuated that the report might have been interfered with to embarrass him.

“I want to believe that this report was not interfered with by anybody to put in those things so that when I come here I will be cornered the way you’re cornering me,” said Waititu.

It later emerged that money from 11 counties was erroneously allocated to national government functions.

Treasury officials blamed county governments for their alleged failure to follow procedures for disclosure of expenditure and budget execution.

The COG statement however called for the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to unearth what transpired between the county governments, the National Treasury and the office of the Auditor General.

In a separate case that was presented to Justice James Makau on May 8, the Kiambu County Government admitted to not following proper procedure in making a supplementary budget seeking Ksh.16.5 billion for the current financial year.

The judge ordered the county to pay costs of the suit to 10 petitioners who are Members of the County Assembly.