Mutava Musyimi

Last updated

Mutava Musyimi Mutava Musyimi.pdf
Mutava Musyimi

Mutava Musyimi (born 1952) is a Kenyan politician. He belongs to the Party of National Unity and was elected to represent the Gachoka Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya since the 2007 Kenyan parliamentary election. [1]

Contents

Early life and family

Mutava Musyimi was born in 1952 to Tabitha Kisilu and veteran politician Stephen Kisilu (both deceased) in Riakanau village, Embu District. He is the third born of eight children. He grew up in a Christian home, and attended Riakanau Primary School from 1959 to 1965. He later joined the prestigious Kangaru School, [2] Embu in 1969. Here Mutava was the secretary of the Christian Union which represented the School in Church affairs, Music, Drama and supported the local Sunday Schools by providing teachers and organising music competitions. He regularly urged especially new joiners at the School to pray for his success at the 'O' level exams which he passed and proceeded to the Schools 'A' Levels. He attended the University of Nairobi (Kenyatta Campus- which later became Kenyatta University) in 1972 to pursue a Bachelor of Education degree. It was during this time that he felt the call to become a man of the cloth. After much thought, prayer and consulting, he decided to follow this route, though it took him down a different path. He later joined University of London for a Bachelor of Divinity degree and thereafter the Trinity Divinity School, Illinois for a Master of Theology degree. Upon returning to Kenya, he joined the Nairobi Baptist Church [3] as a Pastor from 1979- 1993. He married his wife Nyambura Musyimi on February 4, 1984 and later had two children; a daughter, Mueni-Nyokabi (25), a lawyer and theology teacher and a son, Syano (23) a PhD candidate.

The Church

It was during his tenure at Nairobi Baptist Church [4] that he came to the limelight as he spoke openly against the excesses of the Moi era. He later said, '...it is at Nairobi Baptist Church I started to see the state and individuals...and the pulpit as a powerful place for speaking out against injustice...'. He joined the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) as the Secretary General and served until 2007. Under his leadership, NCCK was very vocal on human rights issues, democracy and constitutionalism. Introspectively, NCCK made huge leaps in achieving its mandate including; financial stability and sustainability, advocacy and strengthening of its systems and priorities. He led the interfaith Ufungamano Initiative that was instrumental in shaping and achieving Kenya's new Constitution.

The State

Mutava Musyimi with Children in Gachoka Mutava Musyimi with Children in Gachoka.jpg
Mutava Musyimi with Children in Gachoka

In 2007 Mutava left NCCK and ran for Parliament as Gachoka's MP. He ran against Joseph Nyagah and won, defeating the fifty (50) year old hold the Nyaga family had on the constituency. During his tenure, Gachoka Constituency has seen improved infrastructure including new roads, piped water, electrification and better utilization and monitoring of Constituency Development Funds (CDF). In Parliament he is the current chair of the Lands and Natural Resources Committee, and a member of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee. He has been touted by several media publications to run for presidency.

Hobbies

His hobbies include farming, football, art appreciation, and meeting people. He likes to read biographies and African literature. He says "...I'm particularly interested in the works of the likes of Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka...it is interesting to see how they capture the disruption of [African] society by colonialism, religion..." Mutava is currently working his way through the Bible in Swahili. He does not like movies, but when pushed on it admits to be partial to Meryl Streep especially in Out of Africa . He admires Nelson Mandela for his sacrifice and patience, Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai for her passion and persistence, Winston Churchill for his courage and discernment of the times and his late father because he was '...a complete person. In faith, family, politics, enterprise and community...' Asked what historical figure he would have over for dinner if he could he answered King David of the Bible and Mahatma Gandhi. The king, because of his ability to blend all his different capacities into one human being, and the Mahatma for his deep reflections.

Presidential ambitions

Mutava has declared his intentions to vie for the presidential seat in Kenya's 2012 General Elections. He launched his candidacy on July 2, 2011 in Nakuru. His slogan is 'It's Time!' or 'Ni Sasa' (translated into Swahili). His symbol is a lit candle. He is reported to be pursuing the nomination of the Democratic Party of Kenya when it selects its flag bearer. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenya African National Union</span> Political party in Kenya

The Kenya African National Union (KANU) is a Kenyan political party that ruled for nearly 40 years after Kenya's independence from British colonial rule in 1963 until its electoral loss in 2002. It was known as Kenya African Union (KAU) from 1944 but due to pressure from the colonial government, KAU changed its name to Kenya African Study Union (KASU) mainly because all political parties were banned in 1939 following the start of the Second World War. In 1946 KASU rebranded itself into KAU following the resignation of Harry Thuku as president due to internal differences between the moderates who wanted peaceful negotiations and the militants who wanted to use force, the latter forming the Aanake a forty, which later became the Mau Mau. His post was then occupied by James Gichuru, who stepped down for Jomo Kenyatta in 1947 as president of KAU. The KAU was banned by the colonial government from 1952 to 1960. It was re-established by James Gichuru in 1960 and renamed KANU on 14 May 1960 after a merger with Tom Mboya's Kenya Independence Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mwai Kibaki</span> President of Kenya from 2002 to 2013

Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki was a Kenyan politician who served as the third President of Kenya from December 2002 until April 2013. He served in various leadership positions in Kenya's government including being the longest serving Member of Parliament (MP) in Kenya from 1963 to 2013.

Embu is a town located approximately 125 kilometres (78 mi) northeast of Nairobi towards Mount Kenya. Embu served as the provincial capital of the former Eastern Province and currently serves as the headquarters of Embu County in Kenya. Located on the south-eastern foothills of Mount Kenya, the Municipality of Embu had a population of 204,979 in 2019 census. Embu is also the 8th Largest Municipality in Kenya. It is the commercial hub of the Central Eastern part of Kenya and provides an avenue for trade, tourism and highway transit between the national capital and the Northern Frontier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Michuki</span> Kenyan politician and businessman

John Njoroge Michuki was a Kenyan politician and businessman. He was born at Muguru village in Fort Hall District. He was educated in Kenya and abroad. Michuki emerged as one of the prominent and long-serving civil servants and politicians as well as a businessman in Kenya. Michuki served Kenya in various capacities, including Permanent Secretary in the Finance Ministry, Chairman of the Kenya Commercial Bank, Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister. He was serving his 4th five-year term as a Member of Parliament for Kangema Constituency. Michuki had a reputation as a "ruthless" and efficient manager, and was widely acknowledged as among the best performing ministers in President Kibaki's Government. He was serving as the Minister for Environment and National Resources at the time of his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitui County</span> County in Kenya

Kitui County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya county in the former Eastern Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Kitui, and Mwingi is also another major urban centre. The county has a population of 1.2 million people and an area of 30,496 km2. It lies between latitudes 0°10 South and 3°0 South and longitudes 37°50 East and 39°0 East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiper Democratic Movement – Kenya</span> Kenyan political party

The Wiper Democratic Movement–Kenya (WDM-K), formerly Orange Democratic Movement–Kenya (ODM–Kenya), is a political party in Kenya, which originated as a result of the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum. The party tends to be more popular among the Kamba people. It is headed by Kalonzo Musyoka, who ran for president in 2007 and served as the vice-president in the Grand Coalition of Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. He is now a member of the main opposition Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Party.

Kerugoya is the biggest town in Kirinyaga County, located 10 kilometres east of Karatina and 40 kilometres west of Embu. It is situated in the former Kirinyaga district. Travel directions by road from Nairobi is through Thika Road past Thika, Kenol and Makuyu. The road leads through Makutano until Sagana town, where a road branches off the East towards Kagio town up to Kirinyaga University branching North towards the town.

Kangaru School is an all boys high school located in the Embu County, Kenya. It was built by the first missionaries that arrived in Kenya during the colonialism in the 1920s. It was rebuilt in 1947 by Sir Robin Wainright on a Harambee basis. There is a nearby village called Kangaru which is probably where the name comes from. There is a river close to the school, the Kapingazi River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qqu</span> Kenyan musician (born 1980)

Moses Qqu Odhiambo, known commonly as Qqu is a Kenyan singer, songwriter, choreographer, performer, instrumentalist, lifestyle entrepreneur and digital artist.

Ihwagi is a settlement in Kenya's Central Province. Currently, it is a shopping center as well as one of the sub locations in Kairia Location of Kirimara Division, Mathira East District, Mathira Constituency, Nyeri County. It is on the Karatina town- Karatina University, approximately 5 kilometers from Karatina Town (CBD) and roughly 130 kilometers from Nairobi city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Kenyan general election</span>

General elections were held in Kenya on 4 March 2013. Voters elected the President, members of the National Assembly and newly formed Senate. They were the first elections held under the new constitution, which was approved in a 2010 referendum, and were also the first run by the new Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). They coincided with the 2013 Kenyan local elections.

Agostinho Neto Oyugi is a Kenyan politician and lawyer who was elected Member of Parliament for the Ndhiwa Constituency, running on an ODM ticket, in a by-election in September 2012. He served the people Ndhiwa till August 2017 where he improved the roads, schools, healthcare etc. He started the National Schools Bursary programme in Ndhiwa where homegrown students who managed to secure a place in a national school would be awarded Kshs 50,000 annually to cater for their school fees. He was among a group of activists that filed a case In Kenya's High Court attempting to disqualify Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto from contesting in Kenya's general Election of 2013. He is currently the co-party leader of United Green Movement (UGM) a party that promises total inclusivity.

Tiras Nyingi Ngahu was a Kenyan politician and real estate broker. He was elected to parliament in a September 2012 by-election to represent Kangema Constituency. He attended Githiga Primary School and Thika High School. He received a B.A Education from Kenyatta University in 1987 and was a director at Prime Movers Insurance Brokers.

Philip Kiptoo Tunoi is a Kenyan lawyer and a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Kenya. He also served as a Judge of the East African Court of Justice.

Robert Alai, HSC is a Kenyan blogger and cyber-activist. Alai, who used to run the now defunct information technology weblog at Techmtaa.com has earned notoriety for his stream of social rants. He has been sued and briefly incarcerated for his highly opinionated political and sometimes personal attacks on politicians, government officials and business leaders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedict Wachira</span>

Benedict Wachira is a Kenyan communist political and social justice activist. He is also the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Kenya (CPK).

University of Embu is a Kenyan chartered university. It transitioned from a constituent college to a full university on 7 October 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Maraga</span> 14th Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya

David Kenani Maraga is a Kenyan lawyer and jurist. He was the 14th Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya from October 2016 until his retirement in January 2021.

Peninnah Gathoni Muchomba popularly known as Gathoni Wa Mucomba is a Kenyan journalist, entrepreneur and politician. She is the Member of Parliament for Githunguri Constituency in the bicameral Kenyan parliament since 2022 and a member of the ruling party, UDA. She formerly vied and won the Kiambu women representative post in the 2017 General election. Gathoni garnered 922,829 votes from Kiambu county constituents.

Eric Muchangi Njiru Karemba is a Kenyan politician and a businessman, and currently the Member of Parliament (MNA) for Runyenjes Constituency, serving a second term and also the Chairman of the Labour and Social Affairs committee. Runyenjes is in Embu County in Eastern part of Kenya. Karemba belongs to the United Democratic Alliance party under the Kenya Kwanza alliance led by the current and the fifth president of Kenya Dr William Ruto. He is a graduate of Kenyatta university with a Bachelors of Education and was a student leader at the same university. Karemba made history by becoming the first Akorino MP in the history of Kenya. Karemba currently serves as the Chairman of the Labor and Social Affairs Committee of the National Assembly.

References

  1. Members Of The 10th Parliament Archived 2008-06-16 at the Wayback Machine . Parliament of Kenya. Accessed June 19, 2008.
  2. "A school in Kenya". Kangaru School. 1946-12-30. Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  3. "Nairobi Baptist Church". Nairobibaptist.co.ke. 2011-08-04. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  4. "Nairobi Baptist Church". Nairobibaptist.co.ke. 2011-08-04. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  5. Delegates to pick DP candidate says official. http://www.the-star.co.ke/national/national/72159-delegates-to-pick-dp-candidate-says-official-

Bibliography

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20110324125000/http://www.musyimilaw.com/staff.html
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20110614103145/http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/columnists/InsidePage.php?id=2000032533&cid=501&
  3. http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=%202000003907&cid=501&story=Learning%20from%20the%20%91Gachoka%20model%92%5B%5D
  4. Results of the Kenyan parliamentary election, 2007
  5. http://www.kenyaelections.com/area/elections-database/
  6. http://rescuekenya.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/ufungamano-initiative-one-kenya-one-people-keeping-the-country-together-after-the-general-election/
  7. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,IRBC,QUERYRESPONSE,KEN,3df4be5211,0.html
  8. http://allafrica.com/stories/201011081213.html
  9. http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/archives/mag/InsidePage.php?id=1144010177&cid=349&%5B%5D