Kiambu Governor, Kimani Wamatangi has been accused of attempting to extort foreign direct investors, and international investors from New Zealand, the USA, the United Kingdom, and Norway. In a press conference, Tatu City Country Head, Preston Mendenhall has accused the governor, together with the county’s CEC for Lands, Housing, and Physical Planning, Salome Wainaina, of frustrating the efforts of the investors and putting thousands of jobs at risk by delaying the approval of the new masterplan since submission was made in 2022.
Mr Mendenhall has accused the governor and his administration of trying to usurp national authority and control the approval, by withholding a ‘Letter of no Objection,’ requested by the National Director for Physical Planning before the plan’s approval. “Salome and Wamatangi decided to take this opportunity to extort us. We are here today to do the right thing. We are blowing the whistle on corruption and a shakedown on foreign investors in Kenya,” Mendenhall said.
The governor has been accused of trying to seize 40 acres of land from Tatu City valued at 4.3 billion shillings. Mr. Mendenhall labeled the governor a barrier to foreign direct investment and a destroyer of youth jobs due to his abuse of public office to thwart legal processes.
“We have tried to resolve the issue for a year and a half now and it is clear that the governor only wants one thing, and we have said no. Today we have said it very loudly and very publicly,” he said.
The investors have not officially reported the allegations to the authorities saying that everything about Tatu City is in the public domain. “We like interacting with the public, and we are putting this information public so that you can act on it as you see fit.”
The pioneering special economic zone has created more than 20,000 jobs, 2000 affordable apartments, and public and private schools educating more than 6,000 students.
