Two Murang’a MPs have bravely fought against male rivals to retain their seats.
The two, Alice Wahome of Kandara and Mary Waithera of Maragua, have been reelected through the UDA ticket.
Waithera got 49,281 votes.
She was followed by Jubilee Party’s Anthony Chege with 12,633 while Lawrence Munga of Chama Cha Kazi was third with 2,156 votes.
Waithera, a former teacher, vied against 14 men in 2017 to emerge as the winner. She was the only woman in the race.
This time she battled against nine men and one woman.
Waithera earlier narrated the challenges she faced campaigning against men.
She said in the run-up to the 2017 election, men would gang up against her and send goons to her meetings to intimidate her.
They even used the Wangu wa Makeri folklore against her in a bid to paint her in a bad light.
Wangu wa Makeri was a precolonial chief who served between 1902 and 1907. She was said to have been high-handed and would literally sit on men during meetings.
The legend was however cleared by Murang’a museum’s curator Anthony Maina, who clarified that Wangu was an astute and progressive leader who sat on one man after he disrupted her public baraza.
In her address after being announced the winner, Waithera thanked her constituents for their confidence in her leadership.
She also thanked her husband, Peter Njoroge, and their children for wholeheartedly supporting her throughout her political journey.
“I'm ready to serve you for another five years and I will do so with all of my strength,” she added.
Waithera previously supported the Jubilee government but later decamped to the William Ruto-led UDA party.
This was shortly after she was harassed by security guards manning the Kasarani Stadium’s entrance during a rally organised by Azimio and in which Raila Odinga announced his candidature for the presidency.
She then joined other local staunch UDA leaders to rally for the party’s candidates in the county.
The party has clinched all seven MP seats, forcing out three Jubilee MPs in Kigumo, Mathioya and Gatanga.
“Even though the turnout was not very good, Maragua managed to give Ruto 82 per cent of the votes cast,” Waithera said.
Wahome has triumphed against 14 men. She is a lawyer and a fierce politician who has captured the hearts of Kandara people for the third time.
Wahome has strongly and consistently opposed the Jubilee administration since President Uhuru Kenyatta fell out with his deputy.
Though yet to be announced as MP-elect, preliminary results indicate Wahome may win with 22,929 votes while her closest rival Chege wa Njuguna of Chama Cha Kazi follows with 12,313 votes.
Wahome started her political career in 2007 when she vied for the seat and lost. Before then, she championed women's rights and was a member of the Federation of Women Lawyers. She even served as its council’s vice chairperson.
The mother of four also served as a council member at the Law Society of Kenya for two years.
Wahome was one of 16 women elected to the National Assembly in 2013. After the 2017 election, she served as the vice chairperson of the Justice and Legal Affairs committee, only to be removed in 2020 during the government’s purge of rebel MPs.
Edited by A.N
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