•The seat, currently held by Joseph ole Lenku of Jubilee, has also attracted former governor David Nkedianye of the Azimio la Umoja coalition.
•She said that Kajiado is a metropolitan region with 61 per cent of diaspora votes and 31 per cent of the local Maasai voters.
An economics lecturer has joined the Kajiado governor race.
Dr Racheal Gitonga, a business consultant and lecturer, quit her job at Multimedia University on Friday.
She will be seeking a United Democratic Alliance’s party ticket.
Gitonga will compete with MPs Peris Tobiko (Kajiado East), Katoo ole Metito (Kajiado South), and former NTSA boss Francis Meja in the April UDA nomination.
The seat, currently held by Joseph ole Lenku of Jubilee, has also attracted former governor David Nkedianye of the Azimio la Umoja coalition.
Gitonga announced on Sunday her candidature in the UDA party and promised Kajiado that she will use her economic skills to turn around the economy of the county.
“I may not be a refined politician, but I have what it takes in terms of economic skills to manage the affairs of this county as its governor. That position requires a technocrat to be able to revive the county’s economy,” said Gitonga in an interview.
When asked why she left a lucrative job at the university to plunge into politics, Gitonga said the people of Kajiado, mostly the women, approached her severally and requested her to lead them.
“This county is endowed with a lot of natural resources from Magadi Soda, building stones from the numerous mines across the region, wildlife in the Amboseli, and livestock rearing. With all these, the majority of the people in the rural areas are poverty-stricken. They cannot afford to send their children to school,” claimed Gitonga.
The former lecturer said that only in Kajiado do many families depend on government bursaries to educate their children despite the billions of shillings the county government receives.
“There is a major problem with the leadership of this county, and this is what I am striving to work on once the people of this region will nominate me to run for the governor position,” said Gitonga.
She said that Kajiado is a metropolitan region with 61 per cent of diaspora votes and 31 per cent of the local Maasai voters.
“It is time the diaspora community can now vote and have serious and educated individuals to take over and lead from the top. We will not be talking about clans anymore but we will represent and lead the people equally,” said Gitonga.
She claimed that women in Kajiado are oppressed and have no say in their Maasai communities.
They need to be empowered economically, they need to be allowed into leadership positions so that their girls can access education like their brothers, she said.
Gitonga said that unlike most politicians in UDA, she is better placed to interpret the meaning of the party’s slogan of “bottom-up economy”.
“I am an economist and understand what the party is meaning for the people of Kenya. The economy of this country is in ICU and we are coming to turn it around and restore the country’s economic integrity,” said Gitonga.
She acquired her PhD from the University of Nairobi after her Masters in Business Administration from the same university.
Gitonga obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics (Second Class Honours - Upper Division) from the Moi University in 2001.
She has taught at Riara, MKU, and later Multimedia universities.