I deserve Miraa job, says Benjamin Ndubai son

Leon Ndubai (left) at a political meeting in 2016. [Courtesy]

Politician Leon Ndubai has defended his inclusion in the Miraa Task Force Implementation Committee despite murmurs from his Tigania West backyard.

Mr Ndubai, a son of former Democratic Party founder Benjamin Ndubai, is one of the latest inclusions in the 13-member committee gazetted last week by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri.

During preliminary ground visit to Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Embu, which ended two weeks ago, MCAs from Tigania West demanded the visibility of the area’s representative, who they claimed did not have an active role in the team.

His absence at the task force’s meeting with the Meru County Assembly caused murmurs, forcing some members of the committee to appeal for calm.

Committee chair Kello Harsama said any attempt to dispute the membership of the task force would cause further paralysis to the work of the team, which has a Sh906 million kitty in the current financial year.

Appointment deserved

Yesterday, Ndubai said his appointment to the team was deserved and would add immense value to the mandate.

“I may not be a miraa expert per se but I have credentials in marketing and managing hospitality and financial institutions. Maybe that is what I'm bringing in,” said Ndubai.

He dismissed his detractors as people envious of his political progression and stated that he had a thriving miraa farm in his rural home at Kirukire village in Akiithi ward.

Ndubai ran for the Tigania West parliamentary seat in the last elections as an independent candidate and emerged fourth with 4,707 votes behind John Mutunga (Jubilee Party) with 18,324 votes, PNU's David Kareithi's 13,977 votes and Henry Kurauka (Maendeleo Chap Chap) with 7,591 votes.

Ndubai runs the family-owned Indo-Africa Finance, a Nairobi-based micro finance institution and Sandalwood group of hotels founded by his late father.