Sky is the limit: Former MCAs eye governor seat
By People.Reporter, January 14, 2022Jeremiah Kiplang’at
County Assemblies — and the county councils before them — are often associated with barely educated and crude characters who unable to conduct any business without resorting to brute force and shouting matches.
That may not be far from the truth considering the ugly scenes that often mar sittings in the assemblies. The councillors before them did not fare any better.
This notwithstanding, the assemblies have produced some national leaders.
In the next General-Election, several former councillors and MCAs are running for governor, a remarkable elevation of ambitions.
The one-time MCAs and councillors, who are serving in the National Assembly or Senate, said they will use the experience they gained at the bottom of the leadership hierarchy as they seek the top county seat.
They include Murang’a Senator Irungu Kang’ata and his Kakamega counterpart Cleophas Malalah – a former councillor and MCA respectively – who have declared their intention to run for governor.
Other former councillors who want to be governor are MPs Samuel Arati (Dagoretti North), Tim Wanyonyi (Westlands, Aisha Jumwa (Malindi) and George Aladwa (Makadara).
Highly educated
Arati says serving as councillor was a great opportunity to interact and appreciate the challenges the people go through in their lives.
“I know the suffering the common people go through because I was a councillor when I was only 25 and I had nothing. I did not have a godfather.
Because I got an opportunity to lead, I have made sure that I support the people who are genuinely in need in my constituency,” he said.
Arati joined City Hall in 2007 as a nominated councilor and was elected MP in 2013 and re-elected in 2017.
He is running for the Kisii governor’s seat occupied by the outgoing James Ongwae.
He rejects the perception that MCAs are semi-illiterate and uncultured, saying most of them were highly educated.
“I was elected when I was a diploma holder. I’m a master’s holder now. When I joined City Hall, we had a number of educated people like Tim Wanyonyi who was a practicing lawyer.
Learning is a continuous process. Soon I will be a PhD holder,” added Arati.
Kang’ata joined the Senate in 2017 after serving as Kiharu MP from 2013. Prior, he was the councillor for Central Ward in Murang’a between 2002 and 2007.
He has now set his eyes on becoming the second governor of Murang’a, after Mwangi Wa Iria who is serving his final term.
Kang’ata said the Ward Development Bill he successfully sponsored in the Senate – which sought to create a fund in the mould of the CDF for projects in the wards – was informed by the experience he gained while serving as councilor.
The Bill, however, flopped in the National Assembly.
“[As a councillor] one is able to know the problems of the people in the grassroots.
That experience inspired my Ward Development Fund Bill, which passed in the Senate but failed in the National Assembly.
The idea was to devolve the counties further to ensure equitable development,” Kang’ata told People Daily in an interview.
Wanyonyi, a lawyer and a former nominated councillor, is seeking to become Nairobi governor.
He is touting his experience both at City Hall and Parliament as the right mix that will stand him in good stead in his bid for governor.
Wanyonyi was nominated to City Hall by ODM in 2007 together with Arati. As councillor, he served as chairman of the Education and All-Purpose committees.
In 2013, he was elected MP for Westlands and re-elected in 2017.
When he launched his candidature for governor last November, he said the 15 years he had been in leadership made him the right person to restore order at City Hall.
“Having served in Nairobi County for a total of 15 years, I am well aware of what the residents of Nairobi require and I will fix it,” he said.
Jumwa also honed her political skills in the county councils having served as a councillor for Takangu Ward in Kilifi between 1997 and 2007.
Back to class
In 2004, she was elected the chairperson of the Kilifi County Council.
In 2013, she was elected Kilifi Woman Rep on an ODM ticket.
Jumwa shifted base to Malindi constituency in 2017 where she won on the same party ticket.
She is now seeking to replace outgoing Governor Amason Kingi. She intends to run on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket.
Jumwa, who initially dropped out of school in Form 2, went back to class and sat her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam in 2011.
She later acquired a leadership and governance degree from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
“I started from the certificate level and I now hold a degree. I’m ready to go for the governor seat,” she said recently.
Senator Malalah represented Mahiakalo Ward between 2013 and 2017 before successfully running for Senate in the last election.
A thespian known for award-winning plays, the senator is now auditioning to replace Governor Wycliffe Oparanya who is leaving the stage after serving two terms.