The political rise of Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza has surprised many, especially after humiliating political bigwigs like Kiraitu Murungi and Mithika Linturi, the county’s outgoing governor and senator respectively, in the just concluded polls.
Just like any other village girl from a poor and humble background, the young Mwangaza moved to Marsabit to work as a house manager at a relative’s house without any hope of continuing with her education.
Photo: Kawira Mwangaza (Facebook)
Mwangaza, who was born in 1979 in the Buuri Constituency’s Ontulili village, spent over a year working as a housemaid before she got an opportunity to enroll in Moyale Girls Secondary School. She was among the pioneer students in the school, scoring a C+ after KCSE hence becoming the best student in the Marsabit district.
Her political journey began at Buuri Constituency when she ran unsuccessfully for an MP position in 2013. It was here that she encountered her largest lesson in life.
She explains that she spent KES. 20 million after the 2013 campaign, adding that she had a lot of debt and was broke after the election. “My husband and I moved to Ruai in Nairobi where we sold tomatoes and onions while trying to get our finances back on track,” she narrates.
Photo: Kawira Mwangaza (Facebook)
With no plan and damaged finances, Kawira and her musician husband Murega Baichu decided to try their luck in the media sector, and it was here that service to the public was formed.
They opened Meru’s vernacular TV station, Baite TV, which has over time gained popularity in the region. This is when she felt pressure from the people of Meru to try her hand at politics once more, hence going for the county’s women’s representative position in 2017. She won as an independent candidate defeating the then women Representative Florence Kajuju who was defending the seat on a Jubilee party ticket.
Photos: Kawira Mwangaza (Facebook)
In 2022, Kawira Mwangaza, who doubles up as the Baite Family Fellowship Church Bishop, went for a fellow bishop, Isaac Methingia, as her deputy governor nominee. Governor Kawira insists that her victory was a prophecy come true adding that she had told both Kiraitu and Mithika that she would get more votes than them on the ballot. This came to pass as she defeated the outgoing governor Kiraitu Murungi in his own home constituency, South Imenti.
As Meru Woman Representative, Kawira is famous for her various community empowerment and intervention projects like the school uniform distribution initiative in Meru County and the distribution of gumboots, blankets, and water tanks to residents. Many are hopeful that she will replicate her excellence in the running of Meru County affairs.
Article by Agnes Aboo (@wilfrida_agnes)
