Meet Kawira Mwangaza: One-time housemaid elected as governor in Kenya
Meru governor, Kawira Mwangaza, and her musician husband
Kenya's recent election produced a total of seven female governors, three more than the last election in 2017.
Read full articleOne of the new entrants, Kawira Mwangaza, was sworn into office on Thursday, August 25, as governor of Meru County.
She revealed in an interview with the BBC about her difficult past growing up, where she dropped out of high school temporarily as a teenager to work as a domestic worker.
Kawira said it happened when she was aged around 14 because her family was poor.
“I worked as a house help for almost a year. It was difficult but I knew deep down I was born a winner,” the politician, who is in her late forties, told the BBC.
“I never gave up hope that one day I would escape from the claws of poverty and succeed in life.”
After a year working as house help, she managed to raise funds to return to school.
She entered politics in 2013 but had to wait till 2017 to win a seat in Parliament as a Women's Representative MP.
The BBC Africa page reported that, she has gone on to prove her political clout, by trouncing political bigwig Kiraitu Murungi, who was seeking a second term in office as governor.
Her campaign drew large crowds as she would bring her husband Mwarega Baichu, a musician and producer, along to rallies where he would entertain supporters on his guitar.
