I’ll go for Nakuru governor’s seat, declares Susan Kihika

Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika has formally declared that she will vie for the county’s governorship in the 2022 General Election.

Ms Kihika revealed this Thursday during an interview with a local television station.

“I am definitely going for it. In the whole country, we had three female governors. But, after the demise of (Dr) Joyce Laboso, we now have two. In 2022, I want to join the league of women governors in Kenya. My people have been telling me to do so and I am listening to them. There is a very big chance that, yes, I will throw my hat in the ring. We need more women governors and I think I am as good as the next one and I am able to compete favourably with the men of Nakuru County,” said Senator Kihika.

Ms Kihika — nicknamed the Iron Lady of Nakuru politics — has been making inroads in the male-dominated political arena in the country, rising from a county assembly speaker to become a senator.

The daughter of the late veteran politician Dickson Kihika Kimani and a harsh critic of Governor Lee Kinyanjui’s leadership has been described by political pundits as a “refined reincarnation of her father”.

Senate leadership

She rose to become the Senate Majority Whip before she was ousted due to the ongoing Jubilee Party wrangles between the Tangatanga and Kieleweke factions.

Ms Kihika is the current president of the global caucus of women parliamentarians.

She was born in 1974 and attended Bishop Gatimu Ngandu Girls' High School in Nyeri County before going to the US in 1993 for further studies.

The mother of two teenage girls holds a degree in political science and government from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, USA.

She also did a jurist doctorate law degree at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, USA.

County Speaker

In 2013, she vied for the position of the Nakuru County Assembly Speaker.

She floored 12 men in the contest to become the county speaker and turned out to be one of the most powerful and influential individuals in Nakuru politics.

Since 2013, her meteoric rise in politics has baffled both friend and foe.

In 2017, she vied for and won the Nakuru Senate seat, beating several candidates who included seasoned politicians like former Molo MP John Njenga Mungai and veteran politician Koigi wa Wamwere.

In September last year, Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri led at least six Nakuru legislators in endorsing Senator Kihika for the county’s governorship come 2022.

The six included Mr David Gikaria (Nakuru Town East), Mr Samuel Gachobe (Subukia), Ms Liza Chelule (Nakuru Woman Rep), Ms Jayne Kihara (Naivasha) and Ms Charity Kathambi (Njoro).

At a rally at Nakuru ASK showground, the MPs maintained that Ms Kihika was ripe for the top county job.

Mr Ngunjiri has fashioned himself as the greatest supporter of Ms Kihika as she guns for the governor’s seat in 2022.