Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja launched a sharp attack on Governor Susan Kihika during her appearance on a local TV show on Wednesday, February 25, 2026.

Karanja accused politicians of failing to inspire the next generation, particularly young girls, and highlighted her own experiences in politics. She stressed the need for leaders to mentor youth instead of clinging to power.

“When you come to politics, the politicians don’t aspire to inspire. So, when you look at the young girls, they look at us, they look at the meetings that we are going to, and then there’s the goonism and all that,” Karanja said.

She urged politicians to prepare, as they will always exit.

“We will all exit. Like now, I don’t want to say my age. As Baba has gone, the others will go. So these are the young people who will come. So we must inspire them to become who we are.”

The senator shared her personal story to motivate aspiring leaders. She transitioned from corporate life to politics and faced harsh criticism.

“You know, I’m a case study at Harvard Business School, but Susan goes around calling me what? Mama Pima. Can you imagine? The young girl who was looking up to become like Tabitha is today in politics, anaitwa ‘Mama Pima’.

Despite the derogatory nickname, which mocks her background as the founder of Keroche Breweries, Karanja encouraged young women.

“So just let them know it can be done; they jump in and become and make changes.”

Karanja championed women’s leadership, declaring:

“Women’s leadership in this country can make a change in this country. And we will pray one day that we get a president in our lifetime.”

Karanja slams county leadership

She also warned that internal rivalries hinder progress. Host Jeff Koinange pressed Karanja on her feud with Kihika. The senator explained her oversight role:

“I have been playing my role as the senator of Nakuru County. Our work is to represent our people at the national level through the senate to ensure that when the national cake is being cut, we are there. The second job we have been given is to do the oversight.”

She listed failures in Nakuru’s governance under Kihika. With a Ksh26 billion budget, hospitals lack medicine and diagnostic machines.

“Our health sector was among the best those years. Then, our neighbouring counties were referred to go to our hospitals, but today it’s vice versa,” Karanja noted.

She highlighted the closure of War Memorial Hospital in 2023, despite 10 court orders to reopen it:

“Our people are suffering; there are no access roads, which has even forced them to close some factories. The tea factories are in Kuresoi South. Education and infrastructure also suffer. When you go to the ECD schools, there are no teachers. Public schools in Nakuru also have no water.”

Karanja cited the auditor general’s December 2025 report, which ranked Nakuru among counties that failed their residents. When Jeff asked if she aimed for the governorship, Karanja replied affirmatively:

“After seeing what Susan has done, I will do it. I will jump and restore the name of the women. Because I think in Nakuru if a woman does not jump immediately, it will take 40 years for another woman to be elected as a governor.”

She criticised Kihika’s personal choices amid public hardships:

“Do you know she went abroad to give birth when three women are sleeping on one bed?”

Karanja’s candid interview exposed deep rifts in Nakuru politics. Once allies in the 2022 elections as the “Nakuru Girls”, the two now trade barbs publicly.