Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinard Waititu has come clean over a Ksh25 million payment that was made to one of his accounts while he was in office.
The Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) argued that the amount was kickback after he awarded a tender worth Ksh588 million to a company for road repairs in the county.
While addressing the questionable deposit to his account in an ongoing graft case, the former county boss denied that the money was a bribe for the tender.
Waititu admitted to having received the money, but claimed it was part of payment for a piece of land he had sold.
"I had sold the land to one of the company's directors and the money was part of the payment for my land," he stated in court documents.
He added that he did no wrong in selling his property to a willing buyer.
The former governor added that he was not in a position to influence the tendering process as it was managed by an independent committee.
EACC is seeking to recover Ksh147 million that was irregularly paid to the firm for upgrading gravel roads in Thika, Limuru, Gatundu North, Juja, and Ruiru between 2017 and 2018.
Waititu, his wife Susan Wangari and eight county officials are facing corruption charges over the irregular award of a tender worth Ksh588 million.
After Waititu was barred from office, his deputy James Nyoro took over as the new Kiambu county boss.
Earlier in the week, Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Noordin Haji disclosed that he was seeking to have Waititu's bond cancelled after he failed to appear in court, with his lawyers once again claiming that he contracted Covid-19 and was admitted at a hospital.
"My client has been unwell. He went for a check up on October 24 and was referred to the High Dependency Unit for admission at a hospital.
"He was admitted and is not ready to proceed with the case," Waititu's lawyer argued.
