Did Nyeri MCA swindle her colleagues Sh3m in medical appeal?
When Nominated MCA Zipporah Wangechi Njithi asked her colleagues to contribute cash to enable her travel to India for Thyroid cancer treatment, she was elated when they raised the Sh3m she required.
But that contribution has become her source of anguish.
This is after 13 Nyeri MCAs on Monday wrote her a letter demanding a refund of the money they contributed to enable her travel to India for treatment. The petition was also sent to the clerk of the assembly.
In a letter to the assembly, the MCAs are claiming that Ms Njithi did not travel to India but was instead holed in a hotel in Mombasa.
ON HOLIDAY
According to Rugi ward MCA Njoroge Githaiga, one of those who signed the letter demanding a refund, she used proceeds of the harambee to buy two cars and go on holiday.
“The breakdown was very clear. She was to use Sh1m staying there for three months, another for treatment and the other for other expenses. We later realised she was in Mombasa,” said Mr Githaiga.
Mr Githaiga said they have given her up to Monday next week to refund the money.
“How can you go to India for only two days? This is criminal. We want this investigated as fraud. We are also giving her another letter on Tuesday so she can explain how she spent the cash,” said the MCA.
When we visited the MCA at Skuta area in Nyeri, she broke down when reporters broached the question.
PHOTOS IN INDIA
After composing herself, she denied claims that she was in Mombasa and produced photos of herself in Fortis Memorial Hospital in India.
“I went to the hospital on April 23rd and stayed for 10 days. Even my passport is stamped and shows all the details. I just recovered faster,” says the nominated MCA.
She received the petition on Monday after it was dropped IN her pigeon hole, where MCAs receive official communication on assembly matters.
“I felt heartbroken when I saw the letter. I did not apply to be sick especially cancer. Do I have to die for people to believe I was sick?” she says as she breaks down again.
IMPEACHMENT
“I was earning even before I became an MCA. I had a car even before. I just traded it in for a new one and this happened almost six months after the surgery,” she says of allegations that she used the money to buy a car.
The mother of three attributes her tribulations to her support for Governor Nderitu Gachagua , who is facing impeachment.
“However, I will return money to everyone who signed the petition. The rest I leave to God,” says Ms Njithi.
“Do they want her to die so the money can be of use to them? Should we not be glad she recovered faster” asked the MCas daughter Hannah Wangari.
Additional reporting by Grace Gitau
