Former Kiambu Chief Finance Officer Faith Njeri Harrison, who quit on Tuesday after a falling-out with Governor Ferdinand Waititu, has opened up on the county’s operations and her resignation.
She lifted the lid on the alleged mess in the county, deepening the besieged governor’s woes.
Speaking at a press conference at Kigwa Hotel along Kiambu Road Thursday, Ms Harrison painted a picture of “all is not well” in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s home county and asked government agencies to move fast “and rescue it from an imminent collapse”.
RESIGNED
Ms Harrison resigned for a second time in two weeks after being moved to the Trade docket after a falling-out with Mr Waititu over what she said was interference in the department against a memorandum of understanding between her and him when she was reinstated.
Her resignation, together with that of the director of accounting services, his deputy and three accountants, she said, was because of alleged continued mismanagement, massive theft and grabbing of public properties which she said is done through intimidating departmental heads
NO INDEPENDENCE
According to her, Mr Waititu has denied all departments independence by dictating what is to be done, contrary to the law. This makes it difficult for them to continue working under him as most of the instructions are illegal.
“The Finance department is the custodian of all county public properties. Many of the properties, which include staff houses and quarries, have been transferred to private individuals. We cannot work this way,” Ms Harrison said.
She gave, as an example, some properties in Kamenu and near Blue Post Hotel in Thika.
The Procurement department has allegedly no independence, with the governor interfering with it by threatening and dictating to the evaluation team on who to award tenders.
PENDING BILLS
Governor Waititu’s administration, she said, inherited pending bills dating as far back as 2016 and they have remained uncleared despite President Uhuru Kenyatta’s executive orders. This is said to be the genesis of the falling-out.
The former chief officer also claimed that the governor has been verbally employing county staff against the Salaries and Remuneration Commission’s recommendation and her own circulars freezing employment, leading to an unmanageable wage bill.
She said she was to share this information with the investigations so that the government can move in fast and save Kiambu residents, saying the county “is being run like personal kiosk”.
KAA SOBER
After moving her from the Finance docket, Mr Waititu replaced Ms Harrison with Public Administration Chief Officer Wilson Kinyanjui, who was in charge of the controversial drunkards rehabilitation programme dubbed Kaa Sober.
The Kaa Sober project is currently under investigations by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission over possible theft of millions of shillings from county coffers.
Efforts to reach Mr Waititu for a response on the allegations were unsuccessful since he did not respond to our calls and text messages.
But on Wednesday, while speaking in Bibirioni, Limuru, Mr Waititu said he had made the reshuffles to streamline operations in the Finance department which he claimed was marred by graft.