Valiant Lawyer Taking Waititu Head on

Nani Njoroge Mungai on Tuesday, January 28 took to the Senate plenary, representing the Kiambu County Assembly where he laid a scathing attack on Governor Ferdinand Waititu and tried to convince the senators to uphold his impeachment.

According to Mungai, Waititu was a dictator in the Kiambu County Government and took advantage to fleece the county coffers.

“Having weakened the systems, the governor proceeded to put at the disposal of his family, resources of Kiambu people.

“Procurement contracts ended up with his wife and daughters, receiving funds from the county budget. This was a clear conflict of interest,” remarked Mungai.

Lawyers Nani Mungai (left) for IEBC and Jotham Arwa (right) for Cord during Court proceedings at Milimani Law Courts March 13, 2013

Mungai also stated that the governor indirectly admitted to his actions of using county funds for self-benefit.

“At no time has the governor disputed any allegations made against him.

“The county assembly provided evidence that was used in the impeachment, we have also filed more information with undeniable evidence,” he told the senators. 

Mungai also made allegations that the office of the ombudsman held Waititu responsible illegally acquiring property for his wife through coercing a resident for favours.

“A widow who was left properties by the husband applied for planning approvals from the county but Waititu used machinations against the widow including an attempt to acquire the land.

“She had to go to court to compel the county to undertake its mandate. Unfortunately, she received a call from the governor’s office where Waititu demanded she transfers two parcels of land to his wife. Luckily, the ombudsman eventually facilitated for the return of the land,” added Mungai.

The Kiambu County Assembly's counsel is a renowned lawyer who has on many occasions taken on key cases in the country.

In March 2013, Mungai acted on behalf of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission IEBC in the electoral case filed against the commission by the Coalition of Reforms and Development (Cord) over the General Election results.

In the ruling, Chief Justice Willy Mutunga indicated that President Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto were validly elected through the process conducted by the IEBC.

In April 2019, Mungai represented Supreme Court Justice Jackton Ojwang' before a committee set up to investigate the conduct of the top judge. 

Mungai successfully helped Ojwang' avoid removal from the apex court by a tribunal appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Kiambu Governor Ferdinard Waititu in the dock at a Milimani anti-corruption court in August 2019

In its findings, the tribunal set to investigate Ojwang's conduct stated that the evidence presented against the judge did not meet the threshold to warrant his removal from the bench, therefore, declaring him fit to continue serving in the judiciary.

In December 2018, the head of state appointed Mungai as the chairman of the Information Communication Technology Authority.

Kenyatta described Mungai as a person with immense knowledge in different fields including capital markets, law, dispute resolution and company mergers.

Mungai also took part in the largest initial public offering (IPO) in East and Central Africa which entailed the sale of 25% of the government shareholding in Safaricom at the then Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE).

The lawyer also represented the Kenya Airports Authority and on a proposed airport concession of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport through a privately initiated investment proposal.

The counsel was also involved in representing the government of South Sudan in coming up with procurement documents in connection with the design, procurement, tender and construction for a 30 Megawatts thermal power plant at Juba, South Sudan as well as the associated electricity distribution network.

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