Former Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri Makes a Comeback in Parliament

Former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri has made a comeback in parliament following Tuesday’s general election.

Kiunjuri, who is the leader of The Service Party (TSP), was on Thursday declared the winner of the hotly-contested Laikipia East parliamentary seat.

He trounced his main competitor incumbent Laikipia East MP Amin Deddy of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party after garnering 30,057 votes, according to the official results released by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Deddy managed 28,021 votes.

In his acceptance speech, Kiunjuri termed his victory as a major milestone in the growth of his party.

“This journey has just started today. We are now in Parliament, we have a Woman Rep selected somewhere and we also have county seats, so it’s important that we have grounded ourselves. I want to assure our supporters across the country that we are only getting started,” said Kiunjuri.

Kiunjuri served as the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary under President Kenyatta’s administration until January 2020 when he was fired. He represented Laikipia East constituency in parliament between 1997 and 2012

He unsuccessfully sought the Laikipia governor seat under the Grand National Unity (GNU) party in 2013.