Waiguru dismisses MCAs as petty, ouster motion tabled
Githinji Mwangi
A motion to impeach Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru was yesterday tabled in the County Assembly.
The 30 out of 33 Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) who appended their signatures to the ouster motion accuse the governor of heading a “criminal enterprise” whose mission is to siphon millions of shillings from the county coffers.
Mutira ward rep David Kinyua, who tabled the motion, is leading the onslaught against the county boss.
But reacting to the bid to dethrone her on Tuesday, Waiguru dismissed the MCAs as being petty, especially at a time they should be consolidating their energies to fight coronavirus. She urged them to drop the bid and focus on the county’s preparedness to stop the pandemic.
“It is unfortunate that at a time when the country, indeed the whole world is focused on dealing with the Corona health problem, some MCAs from Kirinyaga county have opted to dwell on pettiness and political brinkmanship by filing a frivolous motion to impeach the governor without any foundation,” she wrote on her Twitter handle.
Waiguru accused MCAs of using tenders to blackmail her and vowed “not to accede to illegal requests for tenders and money.”
The governor blamed her woes on unnamed individuals who are allegedly sponsoring the ouster motion because of 2022 politics.
In the impeachment charge sheet, the MCAs have lodged three corruption allegations against Waiguru and a myriad of complaints over her leadership.
Kinyua claimed the governor has been defrauding the county through payment of millions of shillings to fictitious companies for work not done.
He cited a tender for design, development, installation and commissioning of an integrated hospital management system, which was awarded to Velocity Partners Limited, an alleged fictitious company that was paid Sh50 million.
The MCAs claim another firm associated with the governor’s family, Two Rays General Supplies Limited, was paid Sh8 million for supplying “air”, thus exposing the county to loss of public funds.
Kinyua claimed the manner in which the money was invoiced for and paid out is evidence of the criminal enterprise, saying it was expressly paid on the same day the invoice was presented to the county Treasury.
Waiguru is also accused of irregularly receiving Sh10m travel allowance and yet she did not travel.
The payment, he said, was done the same day the governor invoiced the county and was paid directly to her personal account at Equity Bank in Nairobi.
Kinyua also accused Waiguru of violating Public Procurement and Assets Disposal Act by usurping the power of accounting officers through establishment of an irregular tender evaluation committee allegedly comprising her personal friends, which she uses to award tenders to her preferred bidders.
“The tendering process in the county is driven by nepotism, favouritism and ulterior motives. Most companies awarded tenders were either her family members, small group of her friends who are composed of a clique of individuals running criminal enterprise in the county,” claimed Kinyua.
DMCAs have vowed to resist any intimidation in a bid to cow them to drop the motion, saying they have enough evidence to support their claims.
They told Waiguru to brace herself for a fierce battle in the Senate.
“We want to tell our governor to stop name-calling and wait for a day at the Senate where she will be given the chance to table her defence,” he said.
Speaking to the press yesterday, Assembly Majority Leader Kamau Murango said the evidence adduced before the House is “overwhelming.”
He said the Assembly will reject the re-submitted names of the county government service board, saying the move is illegal.
