Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria is a firebrand politician who comes across many as no-nonsense man in his life given his hard-line position in politics.
Controversy is his second name; he is not shy of it at any given time.
But while this may be the case, Kuria is also a politician who knows all too well what loyalty is all about and is a staunch Catholic as well.
However, little is known of the man who has ruffled feathers with the opposition not once or twice.
Who is Moses Kuria?
He was born in 1971 in his rural home Gatundu South. He attended Githuya Primary school and completed his studies in 1983 before joining Ituru secondary school thereafter.
Surprisingly, in his primary school days, the fierce Kuria was a humble young man who served as an altar boy at his Gatundu Catholic Church.
In his course of secondary education, his mother got worried about his discipline after he was suspended from school for bullying. He completed his secondary education in 1987.
The young Kuria had also developed a penchant for law but his mother was itchy about it since at that time, law students were considered as anti-Moi radicals and many ended up in prison.
He later got admitted to University of Nairobi where he graduated in 1993 with a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce. This is where his political wits begun to shape up.
He served as the treasurer of the Students Organization of Nairobi University (SONU).
Soon after his graduation, he secured his first job at Githongo & Co firm and later moved to Total Kenya as an accountant.
In 1994, he moved to Family Finance and Building Society where he left after a short while following disagreement with his boss over pay. A year later, he joined Standard Chartered Bank as the Head of business process re-engineering Africa where he served until 1999 when he left after losing bid to become the Bank’s head of operation to today’s Barclays Bank CEO Jeremy Awori.
Kuria sought for greener pastures in Saudi Arabia where he was offered a job at Al Rajhi Bank by his former boss at Standard Chartered BankChris Wingfield. He also met his wife, Joyce Njambi, and the mother of his two sons aged 13 and 11.
While in the Arabic world, he had his last stint at Wamad Information Services in Dubai before returning to Kenya in 2007 and threw his hat into politics.
Kuria joined the then Party of National Unity (PNU) in 2007 as the Director of Programs. Amazingly, he got a chance to work with retired President Mwai Kibaki whom he says was his role model due to his sound economic policies for the country.
In 2013, he became the Director of Strategy for TNA before he was elected in a by-election as MP for Gatundu South in 2015.
Since joining active politics, Kuria has earned a reputation across the country. He enjoys love and hate in equal measure.
His hard hitting statements targeting opposition and the media have earned him quite a reputation.
Kenyans have described him as a “loose tongue” but he defends himself saying he only says what happens on a daily basis but people are too afraid to talk about it.