PROFILE: Kawira Mwangaza – From house-help to Meru Governor

While political coalitions swept some regions with a wave, some independent candidates weathered the storm,  trouncing political giants.

One such candidate is the Meru Governor-elect Kawira Mwangaza who on an independent ticket caught many by surprise after falling towering political figures - incumbent Kiraitu Murungi and outgoing Senator Mithika Linturi to become the first female to hold the seat in the county.

In her first media interview since she was declared governor-elect, Mwangaza who is also a bishop at Baite Family Fellowship Church in Meru County said that her victory was a prophecy come true.

"They said I cannot run a County but i told both Kiraitu that I would get more votes than him at the ballot," said Mwangaza.

Born in 1979 at Ontulili village in Buuri constituency, Mwangaza attended Ontulili Primary School but could not proceed to secondary school due to lack of school fees.

Without hope of proceeding with her education, Mwangaza says she moved to Marsabit to work as a house help at a relative’s home.

I worked as a house help for almost a year. Afterwards, I got the chance to enrol at Moyale Girls Secondary School. We were the pioneer class. Four years later, I emerged as the best candidate in Marsabit district with a C+.

She would later venture into business and attain a bachelor in Education degree from Kampala University.

"I pursued a Bachelors in Guidance and Counseling but I didn't start out as a teacher since I ventured into business," she said.

Her trial in politics started in Buuri constituency where she unsuccessfully vied as an MP in 2013 and it is here that she learnt her biggest lesson in life.

"After the 2013 campaign, I realised that I had spent Ksh.20 million. I was broke and heavily indebted. My husband and I relocated to Ruai where we sold onions and tomatoes as we tried to recover financially," she says.

Financially injured with no direction,  Kawira and her husband, Murega Baichu who is a musician, decided to try their luck in the media industry and it is here that service to the people was born.

As the station grew popular,  Kawira says pressure from the people of Meru got her to take another stab at politics. This time however she was careful not to spend so much on the campaign trail and get nothing.

"I ran as an independent candidate and won with a wide margin. This campaign was different because it was people driven. I did not spend as much money as I did in 2013," said Mwangaza.

As an independent candidate, Mwangaza floored Florence Kajuju to become woman representative and that is where she immediately began her journey to governorship, utilizing the national government affirmative action fund to make a difference through operation Okolea.

"I ensured the public resources from Ngaaf are prudently utilised. By being with the people, many urged me to go for the county governor seat in 2022," she said.

To endear herself to the people, Mwangaza has been building houses for the poor, donating dairy cows, giving school uniforms, desks, blankets and gumboots, besides offering scholarships.

At the height of her campaigns, her political competitors painted Meru town with posters and huge billboards but surprisingly Mwangaza chose a different campaign strategy.

On her campaign trail, it was just Mwangaza and her husband Baichu who would entertain the crowd before she sold her agenda.

Now at the helm of the County, she says she will seal all loopholes of corruption.

"Just give me a few months and you will see. Meru will be a very different County," she said.

Mwangaza goes down the annuls of history in Meru politics as the second woman to trounce political giants to assume a non-affirmative position in the national arena.

The first woman to do so was Annrita Karimi who became Meru Central MP in a by-election 1975.

Her career was short lived when male politicians in the region allegedly ganged up to fix her in a corruption scandal.