MP aspirant for Gilgil, Maggie Wangui, says rising poverty, joblessness and the daily struggles faced by many Kenyans pushed her to seek political office, arguing that the economic pressure on households has made many citizens turn to politicians for financial help.
Speaking during an interview on Radio Generation on Thursday, Wangui said people who declare interest in elective positions quickly face strong expectations from the public, especially requests for financial support.
“It has changed. I do know that once you declare that you're vying for a position in Kenya, automatically you owe people money for those ones who are polite, those ones who demand that, those ones who are very sad that you didn't reach the threshold they expected you give like 50,000 maybe you gave two.”
She said such demands reflect the difficult economic situation facing many families.
“To my understanding, it's also a reflection of poverty level, like the ones you're called for Harambe, for diseases, truly, they believe there's a solution you can offer, and that is just reflective of how our society is right now. People are operating in extreme poverty.”
Wangui noted that her decision to join politics was also shaped by her professional life as a lecturer and the realities she has observed among educated Kenyans struggling to make ends meet.
“I’m a lecturer by profession. I teach at Catholic University, and there was a realization somewhere that it is never enough. You can be so educated in Kenya, but being a lecturer, being a doctor, it is never enough.”
She said many trained professionals are forced to look for side businesses in order to survive.
“For us, we are so educated. As African people, it is seemingly never enough. If you're a doctor, you have to sell shoes on the side, you have to sell perfume.”
The aspiring lawmaker said this experience has strengthened her push for stronger labour protections and better wages.
“I felt called to start now advocating, especially for minimum wage.”
She pointed to countries where minimum wage laws guarantee basic earnings for workers.
“When you look at countries such as America, the reason why people are flooding over there, they have something called minimum wage.”
Wangui also said the lack of jobs has affected the morale of young people she once taught.
“As I was teaching students, I keep telling them, work hard, the future is bright, you're going to be employed. And those who actually listen to you, and then once I go out there they said, ‘You told us to work hard, we have not got jobs.’”
She described Gilgil Constituency as an area with many economic activities and key institutions, including security agencies.
“It is a very unique constituency. We host a lot of uniformed personnel. That is the GSU and the rest, the military.”
The area, she said, also includes geothermal projects, farming, wildlife areas and historical sites.
“We also have geothermal, some mining around Kariandusi, a prehistoric site, flower farms, farming taking place, pastoralism taking place, and some game reserves.”
Despite the wide range of activities, Wangui said communities still face serious environmental and economic problems.
“One of the things I want to address is that the place is very dusty, courtesy of crazy deforestation.”
She said the destruction of nearby forests has changed how local residents live.
“When I was growing up people never used to buy charcoal. Now they buy charcoal. They never used to buy firewood. They now buy firewood.”
According to her, years of logging and farming inside forest areas have contributed to the loss of tree cover.
“We watched it get destroyed, charcoal being sold, farming. Those days literacy levels were very low. Everybody was surviving.”
Wangui said restoring indigenous trees would be important for rebuilding the local environment.
“There is a tree called Acacia that hosts a lot of birds. But when you look at the trees that we are now putting in place like eucalyptus, you will never see birds nesting in those.”
She warned that foreign tree species may also affect soil and natural ecosystems.
“There are things you don't see, bacteria, small organisms, they need to thrive in certain ecosystems.”
The aspirant said she believes local communities should help shape the solutions to these challenges.
“I don't properly have all the solutions, but the solutions are there with the people.”
She added that each generation has a role to play in shaping the country’s future.
“I feel like the boomers helped us with independence, the Gen X helped us with multi party systems. What will we be responsible for if we don't do enough?”
