Ferdinand Waititu

Ferdinard Ndungu Waititu, also known as Baba Yao, is a Kenyan politician who served as the second governor of Kiambu County from 2016 to January 2020.^[1] He was impeached on corruption charges. His troubles started after it was discovered that he was involved in a scheme of grabbing land worth over one million dollars from a widow, amongst other fraudulent activities. He is currently serving a 12-year jail term for the mismanagement of a county fund of over five million dollars. He also served as an assistant minister for Water Services and Irrigation in the government of Kenya.

Ferdinard Ndungu Waititu aka Baba Yao
Governor of Kiambu County
In office 22 August 2017 – 19 Dec 2019
Preceded by	William Kabogo
Succeeded by	Dr James Nyoro
Member of Parliament
In office 2008–2013
Councilor, Nairobi City Council
In office 2003–2007
Personal details
Born	(1962-01-01) 1 January 1962 (age 63) Kibera, Nairobi
Nationality	Kenyan
Spouse	Susan Ndung’u
Children	3
Alma mater	Panjab University
Nickname	Baba Yao

Following graft charges leveled against him, Waititu was impeached and lost his seat as the Governor of Kiambu County on January 29, 2020, through a trial by the Kenya Senate despite intense lobbying by some members of parliament.

In August 2017, Waititu was elected as the Jubilee Party Nominee for Governor position in Kiambu County after defeating the incumbent Governor of Kiambu County Hon. William Kabogo^[2]

Education

Waititu completed his secondary school in 1981 from Dagoretti High School, where he obtained the Kenya Certificate of Education. He then proceeded to Ruiru High school for form 1~2 he did a junior secondary exam before proceeding to Dagoretti High for Form 3-4 then he proceeded to Technical University of Kenya, formerly known as the Kenya Polytechnic, before proceeding to Delhi, India, where he obtained a degree in commerce from Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce in 1991.^[3]

Social/political life

He is described as a "fiery politician" and has been arrested on several occasions, including for "hate speech" directed against ethnic Maasai and for protesting the demolition of shanty houses in his district.^[4] In September 2012, he was suspended from his government post over charges of hate speech and inciting violence.^[5] In 2014 the High Court ruled that Waititu was unfit to hold public office due to integrity issues.^[6] In 2015, he was elected MP.^[7]

He is often referred to as 'Baba yao' (Kiswahili for 'Their father'). He lost the Nairobi gubernatorial election to Dr. Evans Kidero in March 2013. Ferdinand Waititu however found a way back to active politics on 4 May 2015 after winning a seat as a member of parliament for Kabete through a by-election following the death of the area MP George Muchai who was murdered in the streets of Nairobi. The landslide win united him with his long-term political friend Mike Sonko but in different fields of politics. However, he officially announced to run for the gubernatorial seat for Kiambu to battle it out with Governor William Kabogo the next general elections. He won the gubernatorial election for Kiambu county, defeating William Kabogo. He served as Kiambu County governor from 2017 until 2020, when he was impeached on corruption charges. In 2021, he declared that he would again run for the gubernatorial seat in Nairobi County.^{[citation needed][needs update]}

Kiambu County Governor

In 2017, Waititu declared to run for the governor of Kiambu County under Jubilee Party. In the nominations held on 25 April, he beat the incumbent governor, William Kabogo, to become Jubilee's party flag bearer.^[8] In the elections held in August 2017, he emerged as the winner and was declared the next Governor of Kiambu.^[9] His reign was, however, short-lived. In January 2020, a motion to impeach him was tabled in the Senate, accusing him of abuse of office, awarding tenders to get kickbacks, and irregularly awarding tenders to himself and his wife, among others.^[10] He pleaded not guilty,^[11] but on 30 January 2020, the Senate found him guilty and voted to kick him out.^[12] His deputy governor, James Nyoro, succeeded him to become the third governor.^[13]

He appealed the Senate's decision in the high court, which also found him guilty and upheld the ruling to kick him out.^[14]

Imprisonment

In February 2025,^[15] Ferdinand Waititu was convicted on corruption charges and sentenced to 12 years in prison or a fine of Sh53.7 million. He was found guilty of receiving Sh25.6 million in kickbacks related to a Sh588 million road tender scandal during his tenure as governor. Waititu, along with his wife Wangari Ndungu, former Kiambu County Roads Chief Officer Eng. Luka Mwangi Wahinya, and businessman Charles Mbuthia Chege, was implicated in a fraudulent tender scheme involving upgrading roads in Kiambu County.^[16]

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) initiated investigations in 2019 following a tip-off about irregularities in the awarding of the tender. The investigation uncovered conflict of interest, fraud, and money laundering. In addition to his criminal conviction, the High Court froze Waititu’s assets worth Sh1.9 billion on allegations they were acquired through public funds.^[17]