MP Wanjiku Muhia: My bumpy journey and fight for vulnerable groups
Kipipiri MP Wanjiku Muhia.
What you need to know:
- Kipipiri MP says her life embodies resilience, having come from a humble background.
- She says she former Starehe Boys director Griffin paid for her high school and college education.
Among the lawmakers who easily embraced the Infotrak opinion poll results released in November on MPs’ performance was Wanjiku Muhia of Kipipiri.
The pollster placed Ms Muhia at position three among female legislators, behind Naisula Lesuuda (Samburu West) and Millie Odhiambo (Suba North).
She was further ranked top among the five MPs from Nyandarua County’s single-member constituencies.
Unlike Ms Lesuuda and Ms Odhiambo, who are serving their constituencies for a second and third term respectively, Ms Muhia has represented Kipipiri for only a year.
She is now banking on her ongoing projects to clinch the top position not only among female legislators but across the 290 constituencies.
“I believe my constituents are happy with the way I have managed the bursary, reduced fees from Sh6,000 to Sh2,000 per student per term in day schools, initiated an ongoing school facelift programme, improved electricity connectivity, maintained roads, introduced the school feeding programme set to commence this year, and overseen the construction of the Nyandarua Cancer Centre through the Wanjiku Muhia Foundation, among other projects,” she says.
Although she is a first-term MP for Kipipiri, she is not a newcomer to the political scene, having navigated the corridors of Parliament before.
The soft-spoken lawmaker served as Nyandarua woman representative from 2013 to 2017 and a member of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) between 2018 and 2022.
In 2022, Ms Muhia, currently the chairperson of the Regional Integration Committee in the National Assembly, beat her male challengers, including former National Assembly Majority Leader Amos Kimunya, to secure the seat.
But what distinguishes Ms Muhia in her decade-long political career is her relentless commitment to championing the rights of persons living with disabilities (PWDs).
When she was barely eight months old in the National Assembly, she introduced the Persons with Disabilities (Amendment) Bill, 2013.
Thanks to the amendment, sign language is now part of TV news. She says this was to ensure deaf persons have access to information as outlined in the Bill of Rights.
She seconded a similar Bill at Eala; it is now in its final stages.
The legislator played a pivotal role in overturning a government directive that had prohibited the installation of cargo carriers on all public service vehicles during the Jubilee administration.
“The ban was adversely affecting persons with disabilities who use wheelchairs. It was impractical for someone to board a matatu and then rely on a separate cargo vehicle to transport the wheelchair.
"We presented the same argument in court, and the ban was successfully overturned.”
Ms Muhia was also among the women representatives who championed the establishment of the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (Ngaaf).
“We managed to secure some funds, and now women reps can initiate projects in their counties that benefit women, youths, and persons with disabilities,” she says.
She is a member of the Kenya Disability Parliamentary Association Caucus, which she helped establish in 2013, alongside her Westlands counterpart Tim Wanyonyi and Isaac Mwaura (currently the government spokesperson).
“The rights of persons living with disability are dear to me. One of my daughters suffers from dyslexia, a reading and writing disorder,” she says.
“I use Parliament as an opportunity to influence policies for the benefit of thousands of persons living with disabilities. I take inspiration from the sister of the 35th President of the United States of America, the late JF Kennedy.
"She had a daughter with a condition similar to my daughter’s, and used her influence to push for sweeping legislation designed to improve the quality of life for Americans with disabilities,” she says.
In July last year, the MP made a statement in Parliament seeking clarification from Sports and Youth Affairs Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba over a cold reception and lack of flagging off the Kenyan team that participated in the Special Olympics World Games the previous month in Berlin, Germany.
“I am on good terms with CS Namwamba because my statement was not personal. I was just concerned about the way our athletes with disabilities were treated despite winning 17 medals. A gold medal is a gold medal regardless of who won it!”
Humble background
But Muhia's thrust into the national limelight was the hallmark of her life makeover. Hers has been a journey from obscurity to eminence, she says.
After completing her primary education, the prospect of transitioning to secondary school appeared bleak owing to financial constraints.
Her fortunes changed when Dr Geoffrey Griffin, the founder of Starehe Boys Centre and School, came to her rescue.
“Griffin had sponsored my brother and he was scouting for bright sisters of the boys he had sponsored to fund their education. Luckily, I was among the girls and I was admitted to Nakuru High School,” she says.
“I was not an A material. I was an average student and I managed to attain a C+, which never got me to university then. I started a greengrocer’s in Nairobi’s Eastleigh Section Four, and ran it for two years.
"I managed to save a total of Sh30,000 with Postbank.
“One day I decided to walk from Eastleigh to Starehe Boys to meet Dr Griffin. When I arrived at the school, I initially encountered resistance from the staff.
"However, as I was arguing with them, I spotted Griffin in shorts. I ran over to him and quickly introduced myself as the girl he had sponsored from Kipipiri.
“Prior to that moment, we had never met but I had seen him in photos,” she explains.
“I told him I wanted to join college and had Sh30,000. He asked about the course I wanted to pursue and I told him 'nursing,' but there was no vacancy at Kenya Medical Training College.
“And so, I joined the Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology to pursue a secretarial course at a certificate level.
"He cleared my fees and asked me to use my savings on personal needs for the two years I would be at college. May his soul rest in peace.”
Upon completing the course, Ms Muhia secured a job with a flower firm in Naivasha, where she would be credited with several changes in the flower industry, including the creation of a daycare centre for breastfeeding mothers, and a Sacco and medical cover for workers.
After six years, she relocated to Nairobi to pursue a diploma in human resource management at the University of Nairobi. She then landed a position at Equity Bank’s customer service desk.
She later enrolled at Kenya Methodist University to pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration. In 2013, she was elected as Nyandarua woman representative.
While in Parliament, she joined the University of Sunderland in the UK, through Intel College, to pursue a Master’s in Business Administration.
In 2016, she took a course at the Harvard Kennedy School, USA, on “Leaders in development: Managing change in a dynamic world”.
“My academic journey from certificate to a master’s degree, from Rift Valley Institute in Njoro to Harvard in Massachusetts, should serve as an encouragement to our young people that it doesn’t matter the route, so long as you aim, you will be there.”
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