Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu’s troubles are far from over after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga, moved to the High Court seeking to reinstate money laundering charges against him.

The DPP is also pushing for harsher sentences in connection with the Sh588 million road tender scandal.

Waititu, his wife Susan Wangari, their companies, and Testimony Enterprise directors Charles Chege Mbuthia and Beth Wangeci, were previously acquitted by a trial court of allegations that they laundered Sh25.6 million in kickbacks linked to the controversial multi-million shilling road tender awarded by the Kiambu County Government. 

Trial Magistrate Thomas Nzyoki deemed the charges oppressive and unjustified.

However, the DPP has now moved to overturn this decision, arguing that the ruling was flawed and urging the High Court to find Waititu, his wife, and their associates guilty of criminal activity.

The appeal follows Waititu’s recent conviction on other corruption-related charges, which saw him him sentenced 12 years in prison or pay hefty fine for receiving the kickbacks. 

If the High Court overturns the acquittal and finds him guilty of laundering millions linked to the controversial road project, the former governor—already serving time—could face additional penalties, further compounding his legal troubles.

At the heart of the appeal is a multi-million-shilling kickback scheme linked to a Sh588 million road construction tender awarded by the Kiambu County Government during Waititu’s tenure as governor.

The tender was awarded to Testimony Enterprises Limited, a company with questionable capacity to execute the contract. 

The company was found to have used fraudulent documents including academic credentials to win the tender and was allegedly paid for work that was never completed.

The money laundering charges stem from allegations that Waititu and his co-accused engaged in a scheme to conceal the illicit origin of over Sh25.6 million in kickbacks the former governor received from the tender. 

The DPP contends that Waititu and his wife were involved in elaborate money laundering schemes to conceal the illicit origins of funds received from Testimony Enterprises Limited. Waititu is accused of channeling Sh12.4 million and Sh6 million into his company Saika Two Estate Developers Limited, and the DPP seeks to have these transfers recognized as money laundering.

Additionally, the DPP wants the court to find Waititu and Wangari guilty of laundering over Sh7.4 million received through Bienvenue Delta Hotel, another company they co-own, and used to obscure the funds’ origins.

These funds were then used to purchase high-value assets, including the Lake Naivasha Resort which was bought by Waititu at over Sh 300 million in his 100 days in office as the governor. Ingonga contends that the couple’s involvement in these transactions was part of a deliberate effort to launder the proceeds of crime and to hide the illicit nature of the funds.

The DPP has now called for the overturning of the acquittal on the money laundering charges and stricter penalties for Waititu and his wife Wangari.

“The learned trial magistrate erred in law and in fact by misapplying the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act,” says Ingonga in the appeal papers.

Ingonga’s move comes just days after Waititu lodged a separate appeal, raising 57 grounds in to have his conviction and sentencing over four charges of conflict of interest and dealing with suspect property quashed.