Meru County now has a new female kingpin in politics. She did not need any powerful parties to win the highest seat of Meru County, Governor. Her name is Kawira Mwangaza.
She has become the talk o the town after she trounced the lions of Meru County politics, Mithika Linturi and Kiraitu Murungi, in the race for the Meru Gubernatorial seat.
Mkenya Leo conducted critical research about her life, and here’s all you need to know about her.
Date and Place of Birth
Kawira was born in Meru in 1973. Her home village is not yet known since she likes keeping her life private.
Education
Kawira completed her secondary education at Moyale Girls’ High School in 1992. She went to Kampala University from 2008-2011, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Education in Guidance and Counseling.
She also has a certificate in Human Resource & Management from Makerere University.
Work and Business
Kawira is highly invested in the media business. She co-owns Baite TV and Mwangaza TV, an online TV station. In a recent interview after she was declared winner, she revealed that the TV stations had been instrumental in reaching people to sell her agenda.
She disclosed she once worked at Baite TV as a news reporter, and the job helped her connect with people from Mashinani, who came in handy when she needed their votes.
Apart from the Media business, she served as the CEO of Mwangaza Distributors from 2004-2008. She got her name “Mwangaza” from this company. “Mwangaza” is a Swahili word that means light. Perhaps, she will be the light of Meru County!
Politics
Kawira seemingly does not believe in party politics. In 2017, she ran independently for the Meru County Woman Rep seat and defeated Florence Kajuju, who had the support of the Jubilee Party. Jubilee Party was the most influential party in 2017 because of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto.
Can you imagine she defeated the president and his deputy’s influence?
In 2022, she decided to go for Meru’s top seat, the governor. Again, she ran independently against political bigwigs Kiraitu Murungi and Mithika Linturi, who had the support of the country’s most influential coalitions, Azimio One Kenya and Kenya Kwanza.
She won with a huge margin of 209, 148 votes against Linturi, who became second with 183, 859 votes, and Murungi, who became third with 110, 814 votes.
Family
Kawira is married to Meru Musician Robert Murega Rimberia, with whom she co-owns Bait TV and Mwangaza TV. She has termed her husband her key support in the recently concluded elections. The couple is said to have one child together. However, Kawira has managed to keep her family affairs private despite being in the public eye for many years.
Rumors and Scandals
The most catching rumor about Kawira is that she collaborated with Peter Munya, former Agriculture CS and Meru County Governor, to trounce Murungi, who has been the governor of Meru County since 2017. Munya and Murungi are allegedly nemeses since the latter trounced the former in the gubernatorial seat in 2017.
Kawira has been involved in Kenya Revenue Authority scandal after her TV station was accused of evading tax. She, however, termed the accusation as a “pure witch-hunt” against her bid to run for governor.
