Ferdinand Waititu Baba Yao, alias Clifford Ndungu Wainaina is a Kenya politician who served as the second Governor of Kiambu County.
Waititu was born in the early 1960s and since his parents were illiterate, he says he was unsure of his birthday but celebrates it as 1st January 1962.
He grew up in extreme poverty in Kibera slums and partly in Dundori (on the border between Nyandarua and Nakuru counties). His education history is shrouded by mystery but he had stints at Ruiru High School, Dagoretti High School, Kenya Polytechnic and Punjab University in India.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from India, Waititu returned to Kenya and worked for the government before resigning to focus on his businesses. His ventures included logistics and waste management.
In 2002, Babayao was elected Njiru councillor and later became Nairobi Deputy Mayor. He used his position to expand his political connections in Embakasi constituency where he made a parliamentary stab in 2007 which he lost to Mugabe Were.
In 2008, Were was murdered a few days after winning the election - prompting a by-election which Waititu contested and won. He was later appointed Water Assistant Minister by President Mwai Kibaki.
In 2013, Waititu unsuccessfully sought the Nairobi gubernatorial seat on a Jubilee ticket but also to Evans Kidero of ODM. He relocated his base to his ancestral county of Kiambu.
In 2015, he vied and won with a landslide, the Kabete parliamentary race occasioned by the death of incumbent George Muchai.
In 2017, he secured another landslide victory to become Kiambu Governor where he served until January 2020 when the Senate upheld impeachment charges raised against him by the Kiambu County Assembly.
He maintains an active political profile and has emerged as one of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s diehard supporters and champion of the BBI process.