Drama and controversy preceded the wedding of Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu’s daughter Dr Monica Njeri who is set to walk down the aisle today (Saturday) with the love of his life Dr. Nyotu Gitau.
The Waititu family continued to make headlines for the wrong reasons, moving from one controversy to another and putting sharp focus on her daughter who is not new to controversy.
Hours to the wedding, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) moved in with an order to close the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country club where a reception for guests at the wedding was to be held.
Pulselive.co.ke can authoritatively confirm that confusion and frantic efforts to identify an alternative venue for the reception at the last minute followed the NEMA order with organizers of the event keen not to disappoint Waititu and his guests.
They however got a reprieve on Friday after NEMA reversed its order to close Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club for non-compliance with rules for discharging effluent.
A communication from NEMA released on Thursday had indicated that the hotel’s manager had been arrested and a closure order issued.
“The hotel also failed to implement recommendations proposed to it by the authority on June, 20. A closure order has also been issued,” a tweet stated.
Rewarding in-laws with appointment
The union between Waititu’s daughter and Dr. Nyotu Gitau became the subject of discussion after it also emerged that the Kiambu Governor had shortlisted his soon-to-be son-in-law's father Herman Gitau Nyotu for the Chairman position in the Kiambu County Public Service Board.
A list prepared at the Governor's office earlier in the week included Mr Gitau's name among the five candidates to be vetted by the county assembly with critics alleging that it was a scheme by Waititu to “reward his in-law”.
Facing arrest
The bride is also at the center of graft allegations at the Kiambu County government with the Director Public Prosecution Noordin Haji approving the prosecution of Governor Waititu, his wife Susan Ndung’u and daughter Monica Njeri.
The three are facing graft charges alongside other eight chief officers at the county and businessmen.
EACC has recommended that Waititu be charged with conflict of interest, dealing with suspect property, abuse of office involving a tender worth ksh588 million and fraudulent acquisition of Ksh221 million public property.