If former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Ndung’u Waititu’s life were a football match, he would be the star player whose own goal costs his team victory before a red card ends his season. For Baba Yao, as Mr Waititu has been known since 2017, life has come full circle.
Corruption has ended his political career, eroded his wealth and could now cost him his freedom.
The allegations that triggered his impeachment led to a criminal conviction that survived appeal on Wednesday, while a separate civil case resulted in the seizure of some of his assets by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
In his prime, Mr Waititu was a boisterous politician whose mobilisation skills, ambition and determination were difficult to match. His apparent ability to escape political setbacks made him an even harder opponent to defeat.
After serving as assistant minister for Water under President Mwai Kibaki, Mr Waititu ventured into elective politics.
Former Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Twice, he was elected to Parliament in by-elections following the assassinations of incumbents. In 2008, he won the Embakasi seat after MP Mugabe Were was shot dead outside his Woodley Estate home.
Ambition got the better of him in 2013 when he lost the Nairobi governor race to Evans Kidero. But his political fortunes soon revived.
On February 7, 2015, Kabete MP George Muchai was assassinated, three days before three men were convicted of Mr Were’s murder. Mr Waititu won the ensuing by-election.
In 2017, he rode an anti-William Kabogo wave to clinch the Kiambu governorship. His fortunes changed on December 19, 2019, when the Kiambu County Assembly impeached him over alleged kickbacks in a Sh588 million roads tender.
The allegations included using friends and family to launder proceeds of crime. The courts upheld his impeachment, ending his hopes of challenging Johnson Sakaja for Nairobi governor in 2022.
In July 2021, Mr Waititu, his wife Susan Wangari and their companies, Saika Two Estate Developers and Bienvenue Delta Hotel, were charged alongside former Kiambu County chief officer for roads Luke Mwangi Waihenya, Testimony Enterprises owner Charles Chege Mbuthia and his wife Beth Wangeci.
Former Kiambu County Governor Ferdinand Waititu (left) and wife Susan Wangari Ndung’u at the Milimani Law Court on February 13, 2025, before they were sentenced in a Sh588 million corruption case.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
The charges included conflict of interest, dealing with suspect property, abuse of office, fraudulent procurement practices, fraudulent acquisition of public property and money laundering.
The court found that Mr Waititu received Sh25.9 million in kickbacks through proxies. Saika Two Estate Developers received Sh18.4 million, while Bienvenue Delta Hotel received Sh7.2 million.
They were convicted on February 12, 2025. The following day, Mr Waititu was sentenced to 12 years in prison, with an alternative fine of Sh53.5 million. His wife received a one-year prison sentence or a Sh500,000 fine.
Testimony Enterprises and Mr Mbuthia were sentenced to 11 years in prison or a Sh297 million fine after the court found that the company had secured the tender using forged documents.
The accused appealed. On Wednesday, the High Court upheld their convictions and overturned their acquittals on money laundering charges.
All four now face sentences on the four money laundering counts, to be determined by the anti-corruption division of the Chief Magistrate’s Court.
President William Ruto with former Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media
In a past interview, Mr Waititu said he had unsuccessfully sought help from President William Ruto, suggesting that even his political connections could not rescue him from the consequences of the case.
“There is nothing on this earth that I have not tried. I had explained this to you in the year 2023 that he no longer picks my call. Even in prison I borrow mobile phones and insert my sim card and try calling him but he doesn’t pick. You see when you are desperate, you try all manner of things,” he said.
On May 22, 2022, nearly a year after the Waititus were charged, the EACC filed a civil case seeking the forfeiture of assets it said the family could not adequately explain.
The commission targeted land, hotels and other property valued at an estimated Sh1.94 billion, alleging that the wealth had been accumulated during Mr Waititu’s time as Kabete MP and Kiambu governor. It said some assets were registered in relatives’ or companies’ names to conceal ownership, and that he had failed to explain them adequately after receiving notices in September 2021.
The EACC alleged that Mr Waititu received kickbacks from companies contracted by Kiambu County and that he, his wife and their daughter had directly conducted business with the county.
On December 19, 2025, while the family was appealing the criminal convictions, the High Court ordered the forfeiture of assets worth Sh131 million.
Former Kiambu County Governor Ferdinand Waititu is being escorted to a Milimani Law Court on February 13, 2025.
The assets taken from Mr Waititu included two parcels of land valued at Sh64 million, a Caterpillar machine worth Sh11 million and two cars worth Sh1.2 million. His wife forfeited a piece of land in Kitengela valued at Sh3 million, while Saika Two Estate Developers lost Solar House, worth Sh52 million.
In May 2023, Mr Waititu invited the Nation to interview him at his Delta Hotel in Nairobi. He complained that politicians he had campaigned for in the August 2022 General Election, including President Ruto, had forgotten him.
“The President promised that after coming to power he would make sure all the cases that were politically instigated during the tenure of retired President Uhuru Kenyatta would be thrown out or withdrawn. I have seen majority of them thrown out and the accused cleared and am wondering, what happened to mine?” he said.
He questioned why his case had not been withdrawn, despite the evidence presented in court and his conviction.
Last year, the Nation interviewed Mr Waititu at Nairobi Area Remand Prison, where he had spent a month after being jailed for 12 years, with an alternative fine of Sh53.7 million.
He said he was in custody because he could not afford the fine. Two days after the interview was published, he was transferred to Kamiti Maximum Prison as the prison management questioned how journalists had been allowed to conduct interviews inside the facility.
On March 5, 2026, Mr Waititu was released after the High Court reduced his bail terms to Sh20 million from more than Sh50 million pending appeal.
After his release, the Nation interviewed him at Salehe Safaris Hotel along Koinange Street in Nairobi.
Former Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Mr Waititu was preparing to leave for home, holding his car keys in his left hand. He had no bodyguard, and nobody stopped to greet or speak to him — a striking contrast with the attention he commanded just a few years earlier.
He feared that publishing another interview could jeopardise his bail, recalling the problems that followed the earlier prison interview.
“I thought the story would make people know I was detained there and come and bail me, but the story you wrote brought a lot of problems to me,” he said.
He described the conditions at Kamiti Maximum Prison, where he said long-serving inmates prayed loudly each morning and evening as they approached the end of their sentences.
“Prisoners even joke that they have made it in life if they can be jailed together with a former powerful governor. The food is terrible and sleeping areas are terrible, leave alone the health hazards,” he said.
Mr Waititu denied that friends had abandoned him because of alleged dealings in which he shortchanged people or failed to remain loyal to those close to him.
“I have friends who willingly wanted to bail me out but whenever it leaked, they would be threatened by detectives and other government bodies and they would withdraw their support,” he claimed.
His fall from power, he said, had forced him to confront his own mistakes.
“The thing is I have my flaws as a human being and there are things I regret doing just like any other human being. You see, when you are at the top, you think you are in control of everything. Money and fame give you pride and you only realize this when it is too late,” he said.
The former governor said his phone no longer rang as frequently as it once did. When it did, the caller might be a lawyer reminding him about an outstanding legal fee or an upcoming court hearing.
