Young faces staking a claim in new Mathare constituency

Young faces staking a claim in new Mathare constituency

When somebody showed me a poster of some young man – I forget his name – who wants to be the next MP of the newly-created Mathare constituency, which has been hived from Starehe constituency, I wanted to write a congratulatory note to that Hon Dr Bishop Margaret Wanjiru for bearing children with such great leadership potential.

Heart-breaking

But I thought that might be misunderstood, particularly when I remembered that boy or his brother – I think their voices hadn’t broken – delivered some heart-breaking lines about their father not so long ago.

This week, I met a dreadlocked young man who says he is from Mathare, and is also staking a claim in the Mathare seat.

His name is Kanyi, he said, and has grown through Mathare Youth Sports Association, and used sports to make a life for himself.

Telling stories

Kanyi says he is looking for an independent party to run on, outside of Jubilee or Cord outfits, and he believes the young men and women he grew up with recognise it is their time to tell their story.

“Over the past 50 years, Mathare slums have been represented by people who have never lived in our midst, and so do not understand our issues,” Kanyi says.