When news first broke that she is just about to become the first Australian Senator of African descent, many would not believe it.
However, for the Kenyan-born South Australian Senator Lucy Muringo Gichuhi, this is a milestone for her.
She visited her family, at Hiriga village in Mathira constituency, Nyeri County over the festive season.
In sharp contrast to Kenyan politics, she told the Standard that in Australia, politics is professional and it puts you in check from the public all the time.
The threshold for integrity for an Aussie politician could be highly unforgiving as the public have access to minute details which touch on your finances, she noted.
“Politics in Australia is very professional and transparent. Everything you say and do is exposed to the public and it has serious ramifications on how your constituents view your stand on issues,” she averred.
“You have to be above board as a politician in Australia because the threshold for integrity is very high.”
Her entrance to Australian politics was simply breathtaking as she had to embrace the diverse ethnic and cultural way of life for an Aussie.
She represents about 1.7 million people at the Australian Parliament. She gave up her Kenyan citizenship in 2001.
Muringo moved to Australia in 1999 with her husband, William Gichuhi. They live in Adelaide together with their three daughters Peris, Agnes, and Joy.
The now Australian Senator and a lawyer by profession holds her native home close to her heart despite spending many years in a foreign country.
She said that when they moved to Australia, she vowed to visit twice in a year but that was never to happen.
However, she visits the country once every year.
“When I first left Kenya, I told my husband that we must visit home at least twice a year and later we started visiting home once a year because this is where I seek refuge from the storms of life,” she recounted.
“In 2016 when the political decisions were being made, I came back home for four weeks reading, thinking, strategising, and plotting my next move. Hiriga (in Nyeri County) is where I come to rest, and where I get encouragement from my father.”
Her recent visit was a special one because this was the first time she visited her father, Justus Weru who brought her up after her mother’s death as a duly elected Senator.
Weru is a teacher by profession. Muringo’s husband who spoke in the New-year’s celebration at her Hiriga home said her wife’s zeal drives him.
He said her focus and objectivity pushed her to vying for the Senate seat in Australia and went on to have it.