Woman MCA-elect overcomes hurdles to win on ANC in Nyeri

As candidates fought to fly flags of major political parties in the Mt Kenya region, Karima MCA-elect Eunice Wagaki decided to go for ANC.

ANC is not popular in the Mt Kenya region.

Not that the 31-year-old woman did not want the ticket of popular parties such as UDA and Jubilee, but there were so many hurdles on the way to her dream.

First, she had no resources to fund campaigns for party primaries and the general election and second, time was not on her side.

As a result, she decided to vie on the Musalia Mudavadi-led ANC party ticket that assured her of direct nomination. 

Many regarded her as a non-starter, owing to her party of choice.

Wagaki said she fell in love with the party logo and slogan 'Uchumi Bora, Pesa Mfukoni' resonated well with her agenda of uplifting the people of Karima economically from their agricultural activities.

“And because time was limited, I focused all my time, energies, attention and the little resources I had on campaigning for the August 9 election after getting the party ticket,” she said.

When the going got tough, she said, she sought the assistance of party officials to help market the outfit and her bid.

“People readily lend us their ears after we explained that the party was a constituent party of Kenya Kwanza Alliance and supported Deputy President William Ruto’s presidential bid,” she told the Star.

When the election results were finally announced Thursday, she defeated 16 other competitors - one woman and 15 men.  

Her biggest competitors were candidates of UDA, Jubilee and one independent contender who came third in the elections.

She emerged as the winner after garnering 1,516 votes, beating UDA’s Francis Gathung’wa and independent candidate Daniel Rugumi, who got 1,349 votes and 1,379 respectively.

Unlike most of her competitors who were men, Wagaki, a wife and a mother of two would only campaign during the day to spare time for her family at night.

“I had to balance between politics and family life by ensuring I spared time for them, woke up early in the morning and prepared breakfast and my children for school,” she explains.

 “In the evening, I would get home early and cook for my husband and children.”

Initially, she was fearful and doubtful she would not make it but thanked her husband, relatives, a network of friends and party officials who gave her a boost by campaigning for her and encouraging her to keep going.

She is grateful that she survived the UDA party wave that swept the strong and mighty in the region.

More than 80 per cent of the 30 Nyeri MCAs-elect were elected on the UDA party ticket.

Wagaki was the only one out of the four MCAs in Othaya, elected on another party other than UDA.

She believes though she had no war chest like the rest, sticking to selling her agenda and services to farmers in the area gave her an upper hand.

Other than the help from relatives, friends and the party, she also attributed her victory to her four years of diligent service to farmers at Othaya Farmers’ Cooperative Society.

More than 80 per cent of residents eke out a living from farming.

It was this desire to address farmers issues better that drove the Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Economics degree holder to go for the MCA seat.

She plans to use this knowledge to uplift agriculture in the area.

Other than enjoying support from the youth, she also enjoyed the support of the elderly people who grow coffee and practice subsistence farming.

Her agenda is to lobby for irrigation projects for her electorate, to reduce overreliance on rain-fed agriculture by farmers. She has also promised to lobby for subsidies on farm input.

Others are to promote both Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) and polytechnic education.

She pledged to push for proper equipping of polytechnics so they can offer life skills for her fellow youth.

Wagaki urged voters to be electing people based on their policies and not parties.