The kingmaker who wants to be king: Jimi Wanjigi's political journey

His name may have sounded familiar but for a long time few Kenyans could not place a face to the name Jimi Wanjigi.  Many would not have recognized the elusive businessman in public.

This is because the businessman and politician preferred a reclusive life operating from behind the scenes enjoying close ties with powerful men in successive governments.

But at 60 years of age, the clean shaven, self-proclaimed king maker is no longer hidden… he is a newcomer to elective politics, seeking to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in the August 9th, General Elections.

Born on the 17th of November 1962, Jimmy Richard Wanjigi is running for the presidency under the Safina Party, a political party founded by the late paleoanthropologist and conervationist. Richard Leakey, together with lawyer Paul Muite.

WANJIGI, a son of former Kamukunji Member of Parliament and Kenyatta era Cabinet Minister James Maina Wanjigi, started off in the world of business when he came back from the US in the year 1986. He studied at the University of New York, USA since 1982 before graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Business.

In 2002 the soft-spoken businessman was part of the team which saw the late former President Mwai Kibaki win the elections defeating Kenyatta who at the time enjoyed the support of outgoing long-serving President Daniel Arap Moi.

In 2013, Wanjigi claims he led a group of business people in bankrolling the 2013 Jubilee Coalition campaign. which went on to win the polls. He would, one year later, in 2014, fall out with the Kenyatta-led jubilee administration is shifting its allegiance to support the Raila Odinga lead National Super Alliance (NASA) IN 2017.

Jimi Wanjigi's popularity in the country’s political arena however, rose in October 2017 after police officers drawn from the Special Crimes Prevention Unit raided his Muthaiga 44 home searching for illegal firearms.

After the disputed 2017 presidential poll and Raila’s mock swearing in at Uhuru Park, Wanjigi and Raila differed over the handshake with president Kenyatta and on the June 16, 2021, Jimi declared he will vie for the presidency in the 2022 general election under the Orange Democratic Party.

Which he would later leave in March 2022 for the Safina Party which is his vehicle for first presidential bid.

His political journey has seen him face several run-ins with the authorities. In December 2021, he was involved in a court fight with the Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti, over guns seized from his home in 2017.And recently he was accused together with others of fraudulently acquiring the land on which one of his companies stands.

Wanjigi an alumnus of the prestigious St. Mary’s School Nairobi is the  chief executive officer of Kwacha Group of Companies, a privately held family office with interests in various sectors of the Kenyan economy including agri-business, financial services, industrials and real estate. Jimi is married to Irene Nzisa, with whom they have two children -. Maina Wanjigi and Wambui Wanjigi.