Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has stricked back at the government’s supposed plan to arrest her over graft charges.
According to a local daily, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) were finalising investigations into corruption allegations against Waiguru and some Kirinyaga County officials which could see her arrested as early as next week.
In reaction to the report, Waiguru said the move by EACC and Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) have been escalated by her recent defection to the United Democratic Alliance allied to Deputy President William Ruto.
“Surely, barely 48 hours after we decamped to UDA and now this? As a believer in the rule of law this is unfortunate. It’s intention is to dissuade those contemplating the same and an attempt at engineering succession politics. It wont work. Kenyans are not stupid. There is God in heaven,” she stated.
The Kirinyaga County officials who are also being investigated are the ones who were among the delegation that accompanied her to the DP’s residence on Tuesday.
Last month, Waiguru was questioned by the anti-corruption watchdog over a Sh52 million pending bill in her county.
EACC were investigating the Sh52.8 million which was allegedly paid by the Kirinyaga County for titling of 17,000 acres in South Ngariama which initially had been entrusted to the Kirinyaga County Council in 1965 before being taken over by the County.
Kirinyaga MCAs had accused the governor of awarding herself Sh10.63 million in imprests as travel allowances for foreign trips she never made.
They also accused her of irregularly awarding the Sh50 million tender to Verocity Partners, a company said to be associated with her relatives.
The firm had been contracted to supply and install hospital equipment, but the commission said the work had been done by a different contractor.
The Kirinyaga Governor said that no cent out of the Sh50 million owed to the surveyor had been paid yet.
“The contract sum was Sh74 million, of which the County Council of Kirinyaga only paid Sh21 million, leaving an unpaid balance of Sh52 million,” she said.
She termed the summons as intimidations and political witch-hunt.
