A court in Nyahururu has sentenced former Nyandarua Governor Daniel Waithaka Mwangi with a two-year prison sentence after he was found guilty of procurement irregularities and abuse of office.
The ex-county boss was given an option of paying a fine of Ksh 1 million.
In the ruling, Chief Magistrate Hezekiah Keago noted that the former governor would serve two years in prison or pay a Ksh 500,000 fine for wilfully failing to comply with procurement laws and another two years or pay a Ksh 500,000 fine for abuse of office.
Former Nyandarua County Governor, Daniel Waithaka Mwangi, has been sentenced to two years in prison or a fine of Ksh 1 million after being found guilty of procurement irregularities. Photo: Courtesy.
Moreover the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) confirmed that the former Governor was sentenced alongside Grace Wanjiru Gitonga, the former County Executive Committee Member for Water, Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources.
Gitonga was also sentenced to two years or pay a Ksh 500,000 fine for engaging in a project without prior planning.
She was further given another two-year sentence or a Ksh500,000 fine for wilfully failing to comply with procurement laws.
The two were convicted of an offence they committed on April 30, 2014, in their capacity as public officers responsible for managing public property.
The governor was found guilty of office misuse after the court found that in April 2014, he used his office to improperly confer a benefit to the consulting company.
Waithaka is the third governor to be convicted of graft charges in the past two years, joining former Samburu County Governor Moses Lenolkulaal and former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu.
