Court sets date to determine Ksh.50M graft case against Ex-Nyandarua Governor Waithaka

Former Nyandarua County Governor Daniel Waithaka, along with five other officials of the devolved unit, who are charged in a Ksh.50 million corruption case, will know their fate on Thursday, March 13, 2025.

This follows a Thursday decision by the Anti-Corruption Court in Nyahururu, which scheduled the case's determination, citing that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had presented substantial evidence supporting the charges, leading to the decision to place the accused individuals on their defense.

The five county officials charged alongside Waithaka are; Grace Wanjiru Gitonga, Martin Igecha Kamami, John Ngigi Daniel, Jesse Wachira Mwangi and Simo Irungu.

“They are accused of violating the Public Procurement and Disposal Act of 2006 by engaging M/S Tahal Consulting Engineers, an Israeli firm, without a procurement plan for the 2013/2014 financial year," said the ODPP in a statement on X on Thursday.

"Additionally, they face charges related to the unlawful use of the direct procurement method to secure the contractor's services without obtaining prior written consent or providing valid reasons from the Nyandarua County government."

In 2018, then DPP Noordin Haji noted that Waithaka flouted procurement laws by awarding the contract to M/S Tahal Consulting Engineers Ltd in December 2014 with disregard to the law.

The company, which was to redesign the Ol Kalou Town sewerage system, was reportedly irregularly paid Ksh.50,470,513.

Before moving to court, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) conducted investigations into the accused persons and discovered that the former governor and the five county officials engaged with two TAHAL officials to develop a County Water Master Plan and to design the Ol Kalou Town Sewerage System without following the procurement laws and regulations.

The county paid Ksh.23,895,513 as an advance payment for "consultations" and a subsequent sum of Ksh.26,575,000 for the same but no services were rendered.

The EACC later discovered that the two so-called directors, Chen Yochanan Ofer and Albert Attias, had been disowned by TAHAL company even before the payments were remitted via RTGS to a bank account in Tel Aviv, Israel. The pair are said to have disappeared immediately after the payments were made.

Efforts to track down the money proved futile as Kenya and Israel do not have mutual legal assistance arrangements and Israel's foreign policy also prohibits handing over of its citizens to be tried in foreign jurisdictions.