Broke MP Rides in Matatu to State House Meeting
After the Jubilee parliamentary group meeting on Wednesday at State House, that was chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta, one thing stood out.
A 23-year-old man, the MP-elect for Igembe South John Paul Mwirigi did what most Kenyans would say does not befit the status of an MP.
Mr Mwirigi, the youngest MP, does not own a car. He relies on friends to drive him around.
After being driven to State House by Tharaka MP George Murugara, Mr Mwirigi did not want to bother his colleagues any more. Once the meeting ended, he walked out of State House, past the gate towards town in the hope that he will meet a Mr Kobia, a friend who had volunteered to drive him around until he gets a car.
BOTHER COLLEAGUES
“I am actually walking to town from State House. I didn’t want to bother my colleagues even though many of them were willing to give me a ride,” Mr Mwirigi said on phone when contacted by the Nation about the meeting.
Mr Mwirigi contested as an independent candidate flooring those with elaborate campaign machines from the start.
He said his intention was to bring the job of an MP closer to the people unlike his predecessors who “take off immediately after they are elected”.
On Tuesday morning as he went for the induction for members of the National Assembly, Mr Mwirigi travelled from Meru by matatu.
He boarded the matatu like any other passenger from Meru Town to the famous Tearoom stage in Nairobi’s River Road.
Throughout the two-and-a-half hour journey, nobody seemed to recognise him, he said, until he met Mr Kobia, who offered to drive him to Parliament Buildings.
ELECTION CERTIFICATE
He carried his election certificate and identity card to show that he was indeed an elected MP, securing him easy entry into Parliament Buildings.
He was ushered in and taken around.
“Everyone was willing to take me around,” the jovial Mr Mwirigi said of his first time at Parliament Buildings.
He said he spent the night at his sister’s place in Nairobi’s Pipeline estate. However, he later looked for an alternative and is now staying at friend’s as he prepares to settle down with his first salary just a few days away.
Mr Mwirigi is a man who has surmounted many barriers. From being a sand mixer at a construction site, a firewood hawker earning between Sh200 to Sh350 a day, he is set to earn a six-figure monthly salary.
PEASANT FARMER
A basic salary of Sh623,000 plus responsibility allowances await the sixth born in a family of eight. “My father, who died in 2014, was a security company driver. My mother is a peasant farmer in Meru. Whatever she grows caters for our family,” he said adding that none of his elder siblings has a formal job.
With the car grant the MPs used to enjoy scrapped by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, he might have to wait longer before acquiring a car befitting the status of an MP.
However, he is not bothered by what he terms the luxuries of life as long as he is able to get from point A to B. But some MPs have promised to raise funds so that he buys a car.
Former National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi praised Mr Mwirigi’s determination.
“He is a young man but he has achieved so much within a very short period. This is a story to tell. I feel so proud of him,” he said.
Budalang’i MP-elect Raphael Wanjala said it was a privilege to serve in the House with a colleague young enough to be his fourth born son. “It’s an incredible achievement he has made. I am just so happy for him,” Mr Wanjala said. - Nation.co.ke
Comments (7)
Iam taking issue with the statement that"...cannot afford acar beffing an MP." If this you man wants to ride a bicycle to parliament buidlings,let him do it.If he thinks that a VW beatle would suffice,who are we to say that that does not befit an Mp.
MPigs should be know for their work out put and not for the flashy cars they drive. No wonder it is this kind of thinking that drives them to clamour for fat salaries then we complain when they do...
The Meru Jubilee politicians and businessmen can easily do an impromptu "Harambee" and buy this brave young man a vehicle even if it is a second hand probox. If they don't, this young man will walk to parliament if need be and serve his constituents for he has nothing to lose. He campaigned on rides from friendly bodaboda operators dined on food given to him by mama mbogas and took shelter at night under the roofs of common mwananchi who identified with him and were his well wishers. So, his walking can not be an embarrassment to him. He can only rise from this point on and when he does, I am sure he will remember and champion the rights of those poor men and women who gave him free rides on their bikes, freely fed and gave him something to drink from their little possessions, and sheltered him under their humbles roofs where he showered and slept every night as he covered the entire constituency to campaign. My prayers are with him and may God make him a deliverer of his people as he made Joseph, Gideon, David, Daniel, and of course Jesus. Let him be the voice of the poor in the midst of the M-Pigs. Let him be an example that one does not have to steal from the coffers of the state in order to use the money to bribe in the next campaign season. We wish him very good transport and other trappings that go with the position of an MP but let him be modest and never forget that it is the poor men and women who identified with him, fought the temptations of being bribed by those campaigning on helicopters, and made long queues to vote him in - a man of no means - to be their MP. Thanks to the people of Igembe.
Amen!
...was that a prayer?
Why even talk of a harambee when most of his colleagues in Parliament have multiple cars. Let one come forward and donate a car for this great leader. I call upon the President and deputy President to come forward and congratulate him with a nice car. Congratulations to our young man from Igembe.
GG if they have not all ready donated to well worthy causes ,such as to people who still use will barrows to carry patients to hospitals,why would they start now.I dont think this young MP has just injected some spirit of goodwill in them. Remember numbers of cars is a status...
Ok you took a matatu to Parliament big deal.Start making headlines for the right reasons.Instead of people ridiculing you because you are humble for now let them respect you for the bills you will propose discuss and hopefully pass in Parliament.These old wazees need to take you seriously .They may be older not necessarily wiser
Are we still living in the days when owning a car was seen as an accomplishment? I for one look forward to the days when it won't be necessary to own one. Owning a car means absolutely nothing beyond the point A to B it provides when required.