- Other aspirants who have declared interest for the seat include scholar Juma Hemedi and businessman Nduati Njuguna.
- Njeri is seeking to succeed the incumbent Patrick Wainaina Jungle, who has already declared his bid for Kiambu governorship.
The race for the Thika Town MP has taken a new twist ahead of the August 9 General Election following the entrance of a youthful finance expert.
Dr Njeri Karanja, a finance and investment expert, has thrown her hat in the ring in a contest that was previously deemed as a two-horse race between former Thika MP Alice Ng’ang’a and businessman-cum-preacher David Ngari Kariuki alias Gakuyo.
Another aspirant is scholar Juma Hemedi and businessman Nduati Njuguna.
Njeri is seeking to succeed the incumbent Patrick Wainaina Jungle, who has already declared his bid for Kiambu governorship on a Chama Cha Kazi party of Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria.
Ng’ang’a, a close ally of Deputy President William Ruto, will be seeking re-election on UDA ticket while Gakuyo is expected to run on a Jubilee ticket or any other party allied to the Azimio la Umoja under the leadership of ODM leader Raila Odinga.
The entrance of Njeri from Gatuanyaga, Thika East has complicated the matrix for Ng’ang’a and Gakuyo given that the youthful aspirant is campaigning on a trump card that youths have been neglected by leaders for decades and that the region has been voting for ‘outsiders’.
Close allies of Ng'ang'a and Gakuyo have confided that Kuria's campaigning models might outsmart them and propel the youthful aspirant to victory.
Njeri, who has already hit the ground to woo voters, enjoys the support of a section of youths in the region who are keen on changing the narrative that the youth are the leaders of tomorrow.
She is also banking on support from Thika East residents who have lamented of neglect from leaders in the previous regimes.
Thika East, the semi-arid part of Thika Town constituency, grapples with a myriad of challenges and underdevelopment including roads, water for domestic use and electricity.
“The underdevelopment in Thika East speaks a lot on the leadership we have been having in the past years. Despite the government pumping billions of shillings through the Constituency Development Fund, it saddens that people in this region are still facing water scarcity and struggling with poor roads,” Njeri said during her meet-the-people tour on Sunday.
She said poor leadership is also the main reason why the industrial town of Thika lost its glory as the "Birmingham of Kenya".
“Poor representation in government has cost Thika dearly. We will be seeking to change this by ensuring we have young and active blood representing the constituency and able to lobby for more developments until we restore the town’s lost glory,” she said.
Njeri also urged Thika residents to consider electing one of their own who better understands the underlying challenges that bedevil the region, saying for a long time they have been electing outsiders.
Gakuyo has been campaigning on the same narrative and has already branded Ng’ang’a as an outsider claiming that she comes from Juja while the current MP Wainaina is from Gatundu North. Former MPs William Kabogo and Stephen Ndichu come from Ruiru and Githunguri respectively.
On Sunday, Njeri was joined by another youthful aspirant, Njeri Bakari, who is seeking to unseat Gathoni Wamuchomba as the Kiambu Woman Representative on a CCK ticket.
The duo said it’s time the youth in the region woke from their slumber and changed the trend of electing senior citizens by voting in their fellow youth into elective offices and ones who will better represent their interests.
-Edited by SKanyara