By The Weekly Vision court reporter
Former Murang’a governor Mwangi wa Iria appeared again on Tuesday, 1 September 2026, before Chief Magistrate Harrison Barasa at the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court. Prosecutors had rewritten the charge sheet and removed former county secretary Patrick Mukuria from the list. The core allegation remained.
Wa Iria and six co-accused, Jane Waigwe Kimani, Jane Wanjiru Mbuthia, David Maina Kiama, David Maina Njeri, Solomon Mutura Kimani and Peter Muturi Karanja, together with two companies, Top Image Media Consultants Limited and Value View Limited, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, unlawful acquisition of public property and conflict of interest under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act and the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act. All deny wrongdoing.
The Director of Public Prosecutions put the alleged loss to the county at KSh351,097,491.15. Magistrate Barasa allowed the DPP’s application to amend the charge sheet, ruling that the amendment was lawful, and directed that the earlier bond terms remain in force.The hearing had the appearance of a new case. It was not. It is the latest chapter in a file that began while Wa Iria was still in office, burst into public view with a dawn raid on his home in 2016, saw property frozen from 2021, reached the criminal dock in 2024, and was recast again this week.Widely known as “the milkman”, Francis Mwangi wa Iria won Murang’a’s first devolved governorship in March 2013 on the National Alliance ticket and was re-elected in 2017 on a Jubilee ticket. In 2022, he campaigned as the Usawa Kwa Wote presidential flag-bearer, with Alfayo Onyambu as his running mate, on the slogan “One Home, One Cow”.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission struck his name from the presidential nomination register for failing to meet the supporting-signatures threshold. His candidacy never reached the ballot.His first term as governor was turbulent. In October 2015, 34 of the county’s 49 members of the county assembly voted to impeach him over alleged gross misconduct and abuse of office. The Senate did not remove him. Critics at the time called his leadership dictatorial; his allies dismissed the vote as a rival political plot.
After leaving the governorship, he was appointed chairman of the Public Procurement Regulatory Board, a posting later challenged in court because of his pending corruption case. The High Court declined to block the appointment.The document now at the centre of the criminal case is dated 21 October 2014. According to testimony from former Murang’a procurement head James Kamau Kairu, the county signed a framework agreement with Top Image Media Consultancy Limited for publicity and advertising across print, radio, electronic media and billboards.
Patrick Mukuria signed on behalf of the county; Jane Mbuthia signed as the firm’s managing director. The arrangement was to run for about two years, to be activated “as and when the need arises”, against an agreed rate card.Kairu, who later joined the National Youth Service, has maintained that the process followed procurement rules and that the funds were used as intended. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission tells a different story. In asset-recovery filings, it alleged that Top Image, a firm it said was linked to Wa Iria’s relatives and associates, received media-buying and related work worth about KSh542.6 million between the 2013/14 and 2016/17 financial years. It further alleged that the county’s tender committee did not properly approve the award and that the contract was signed before the committee had made its recommendation.
Detectives allege that funds later moved to Wa Iria and his associates, including through Value View Limited, a company linked to his wife, Jane Waigwe Kimani, and to Solomon Mutura Kimani. The current criminal file alleges that Wa Iria received about KSh31.8 million from Top Image, which was allegedly used to acquire land in Umoja Innercore, houses through Mlima Kenya Homes, and works on a property in Nyeri.
The accused deny every count.The case entered public consciousness at a house in Koorali Estate, off the Gatanga–Thika road. On 21 January 2016, EACC officers arrived before dawn with a search warrant naming Wa Iria. They later said they recovered banking slips, title deeds, company records, electronic devices, budget files, local service orders and cheque books. Supporters and aides reportedly confronted the detectives, prompting the county commissioner to warn that anyone who had assaulted investigators would be charged.
In March 2016, Wa Iria was himself arrested over alleged obstruction relating to the search. He maintained that officers had ambushed him, treated his family roughly and turned a lawful operation into political theatre. The EACC told the magistrate who issued the warrant that it had information suggesting Wa Iria had corruptly misappropriated government funds and was holding tender papers, correspondence, bank records and cash at his offices and residences.In January 2021, it was reported that courts had frozen dealings in properties in Umoja and Mweiga, Nyeri, while the EACC pursued recovery of the alleged KSh542 million in media-tender proceeds. In December 2022, the High Court allowed a freeze on two properties belonging to Jane Waigwe Kimani. Criminal charges were finally filed in April 2024.
Wa Iria was granted bail of KSh10 million in cash, or a KSh20 million bond with a surety, and ordered to surrender his passport.After 13 prosecution witnesses had testified, the DPP amended the charge sheet on 1 September 2026, dropping Mukuria and putting the remaining accused through the charges again. Defence lawyers objected that the process had wasted considerable time and infringed their clients’ rights. Magistrate Barasa allowed the fresh plea to proceed.The case was set for further mention on 17 September 2026.
