NAIROBI, Kenya — If Tuesday morning in Nairobi felt more dramatic than usual, here’s why: Kiambu County Governor Kimani Wamatangi was arrested in a pre-dawn raid, and by noon, dozens of his supporters had gathered at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) headquarters to demand his release.
The governor, along with nine senior county officials, was taken in by EACC detectives over alleged embezzlement of Sh1.5 billion in public funds. By lunchtime, Wamatangi was inside the EACC precincts, responding to questions that could alter the course of his political career.
At the center of the investigation is a Sh230 million contract awarded to a private firm—Filtronic International—for an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. The twist? Investigators believe the contract may have been a sham, with fictitious transactions and phantom services hiding behind the glossy paperwork.
He pointed to “significant evidence” gathered during the operation and warned that criminal charges are now firmly on the table.
And that’s not all. During the early morning raid on the governor’s residence, detectives reportedly seized Sh12 million in cash, along with USD 13,000 (about Sh1.6 million)—money the Commission suspects could be proceeds of corruption.
Supporters of Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi protest outside EACC offices in Nairobi over his arrest and that of eight othersVideo by Verah Moraa
Streets of Protest: Supporters Cry Foul
While Wamatangi was answering questions inside the EACC building, the drama outside was equally charged. Armed with placards and shouting slogans, a vocal group of his supporters gathered to protest what they called an unjust arrest.
The optics were hard to miss: a high-profile politician under a corruption cloud, flanked by a crowd demanding justice, as state investigators tightened the screws on one of the country’s most-watched graft cases.
The governor, who has maintained a strong political presence in Kiambu County, now faces a new kind of scrutiny—one that goes beyond local politics and right into the national anti-corruption spotlight.
While the full legal consequences are yet to unfold, the EACC has signaled its intent to move swiftly. “The discovery of large sums of unexplained cash in the possession of public officials is deeply concerning,” Mohamud said, adding that more arrests could follow depending on how the evidence stacks up.
Wamatangi’s case now joins a growing list of high-profile corruption investigations aimed at tightening accountability among public officeholders in Kenya. And with the EACC stepping up enforcement, this might just be the beginning.
