Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti jetted back into the country Monday after a nearly three-week stay in the United Kingdom and immediately dismissed speculations that she and her son had been detained by authorities in London over alleged money laundering.
The plane carrying the county boss touched JKIA at 2.30 pm East African Time where she, in the company of her son, Charles Oduwale were treated to wild cheers by several MCAs, senior county executive staff and a host of local residents.
Wavinya then proceeded to Four Points by Sheraton hotel where she addressed a press conference with a blunt message that she will not relent in her fight against cartels. “I am aware that the masters of the networks of corruption are not happy with what I am doing for the benefit of the people of Machakos. I will tighten things further. We shall choke you out of the revenue streams and starve you and your networks of evil. We will hound you,” a seemingly charged Wavinya declared.
She went on, “The schemes you had established are crumbling right before your eyes. We know you. We will not allow you to deny the people, the children of Machakos what is rightful theirs by way of services.”
The Governor sought to clear the air over her ‘extended’ stay in the UK. “I was in the UK alongside other governors where I sourced for firefighting equipment for the county before getting preoccupied with settling my daughter who was joining university there. I was not under any arrest. I am happy to be back home with my son. His father passed on in 2016 and there is no way a son can be far from the mother. Those making wild allegations of hundreds of millions of shillings must be crazy. They should know that I do not fear them. I am answerable to God,” she said.
Wavinya said the reports that dominated social media of her alleged arrest over money laundering were manufactured by her political opponents who have been working in cahoots with criminals that have been cornered by her tight fiscal reforms.
She explained that having a diplomatic passport, there is no way the Kenyan Government may not have been briefed by UK authorities about her arrest in a foreign country.
“By sanitizing procurement processes and enforcing legal compliance, we have disrupted the cartels that once controlled county contracts, isolating those with vested interests,” Wavinya said.
The governor said some of the reforms she had undertaken after taking over as governor had enraged many people who had been working against her.
As the wild allegations of Wavinya and her son’s arrest in London gained traction in the local social media scene last week, the county administration convened a press conference at the governor’s office where County Secretary, Muya Ndambuki called on State agencies to swiftly launch investigations into the matter.
For two straight weeks, speculations swept across major social media platforms including twitter (X), Face Book and WatsApp chat groups alleging that Wavinya and her son had been held by authorities in London after they failed to explain the source of sh 679 million they allegedly attempted to deposit in a bank.
Dr. Ndambuki, who was breathed fire vowed the county government would relentlessly pursue legal action against individuals in the publication of false and demeaning information against the governor.
“It is with the foregoing in view that the entire literature must now be placed before the relevant arms of the State to ensure that they trace the subject content to its origination, roots, branches as well as the motivation that has underpinned the same,” Dr Muya said.
The County Secretary noted that the said content conveyed a package of established falsehoods, saying the county government of Machakos had distanced itself from the entire network of lies and untruths.
“There now exists a possibility that the County Government shall consider pursuing the most appropriate and relevant options available within the Constitution in safeguarding the interests and rights that accrue in that regard,” he said.
Earlier, Wavinya had warned online trolls through her Facebook page.
“We shall identify, pursue and bring before the law all those peddling baseless rumors and fake news. This amounts to defamation and misuse of electronic media spread falsehoods. Such malicious misinformation has created perceptions against me and family members that endanger our lives,” the governor said. Yesterday, she vowed to sue some unnamed individuals for publication of malicious falsehoods.
