When running for MP, Fred Ikana prioritised building confidence among primary school learners.
He did research that found students are most confident when dressed in a presentable, neat school uniform.
“I started the school uniform initiative. A lot of people live in abject poverty, they cannot afford to buy uniforms for their children,” Ikana said during an interview with the Star.
Ikana is a first-time MP in Shinyalu constituency, Kakamega county, after beating his opponents by more than 17,000 votes.
He trounced the incumbent Member of Parliament Justus Kizito and eight other candidates to win the Shinyalu parliamentary seat.
His top agenda falls in the education sector, being a businessman who has interacted with several residents.
“I did research on ways we can improve academic scores in primary school, and one of them was encouraging children to be confident and boost self-esteem,” he said.
Through the Ikana Maendeleo initiative, the legislator committed a lot of his resources every month to uplifting the lives of constituents.
“For us to ensure children are confident, they have to look presentable, so when a teacher asks a student to go on the blackboard they do their best,” he said.
Even before he became MP, Ikana helped many students to secure slots in extra county and national schools.
This, he said, gave bright but vulnerable learners an opportunity to be empowered and interact with different individuals in society.
“When we talk about economic empowerment, you can’t empower a society without education, that’s why my main focus is in education,” he said.
After the learners complete KCSE, it does not end there. Ikana helps them select marketable courses.
For instance, he leads most female students to pursuing Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) courses.
“I want to see a society that is educated, a society that can compete for opportunities with any other Kenyan competitively,” he said.
One of his proudest moments is when one of the students he had sponsored to join Alliance appeared among the top 100 in KCSE.
The students had scored a clean grade A plain of 83 points.
The first-time lawmaker has a great vision for the education sector, including improved infrastructure and access to bursaries.
Ikana now says every constituency should strive towards ensuring residents get a seat at the development table.
“I want to see children of our people getting their fair chance in access to government opportunities, bursaries, employment or business,” he said.
Shinyalu constituency is home to various prestigious secondary schools, which have a history of outstanding performance nationally.
Ikana clarified that by the end of his first term, the education sector in Shinyalu will be revolutionised.
“I want to ensure our children are supported by being given access to bursaries in a fair and transparent process,” he said.
The Shinyalu lawmaker also has his priorities in security, clean water, access to healthcare and bursaries.
Ikana says he had to forfeit a few roles he had been doing pre-election to concentrate on lawmaking.
“I have been a golf captain at the Limuru Country Club, and also the global captain of the Mulembe Golfers Association,” he said.
MGA is an association for millennial golfers, where Ikana has been the captain for more than four years until recently when he resigned.
A soft-spoken businessman, he had a hard time learning how to shout and yell during rallies.
“I had a funny feeling the first days, but with time I had to catch up a bit. Now I am a very sociable person and I make friends easily,” he said.
He runs a financial services firm specialising in stock broking, investment banking and credit.
Currently he sits in the powerful Defence, National Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee in the National Assembly.
Ikana was overwhelmingly voted in by Shinyalu residents through the Musalia Mudavadi-led Amani National Congress party.
Ikana's victory revived Shinyalu constituency's glory back to government after wallowing in the opposition for decades.
Malava MP Malulu Injendi and Ikana are the only MPs who defied the Azimio la Umoja wave to be elected on an ANC party ticket in Kakamega county.
