The story of Kenya’s first youngest MP came to the fore after the August 8 polls.
John Paul Mwirigi was elected the Igembe South MP at a tender age of just 23 years. He had not completed his varsity education either.
Mwirigi stunned many after trouncing candidates with deep pockets and who ran enviable campaigns in the run up to the August polls.
He had no campaign posters. In fact, his supporters identified him on the ballot paper through a favourite sweater he had put on.
He ran his campaigns using a bicycle and at times, on foot. He did menial jobs such as sand mixing and selling firewood for survival.
But with an unrelenting leadership spirit, lady luck was on his side. He beat his rivals hands down. This was the start of his other life that depicted a young man with a passion to serve his people in spite of his low social status.
For his induction to Parliament, he travelled via a matatu and nobody inside the PSV matatu from Meru seemed to recognize his newly acquired status.
Days later, he was to attend a meeting for Jubilee MPs convened by President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House.
He was offered a lift by Tharaka MP George Murugara since he had no car and no PSV plies the route.
But once the meeting was over, he felt he was a bother to his colleagues and he walked out and walked for a while before he was offered a lift by a Mr. Kobia who drove him to town.
“I remember getting out not like an MP but like a worker,” said the MP.
He boarded a matatu to Pipeline Estate where his sister lives.
With his humble status, Uhuru gifted him a brand new Toyota Prado days later which he has been using since.
Mwirigi now says he has no plans of buying another car before he fulfills the promises he made to Igembe South constituents.
“I can say that I now own the car that I was given by President Uhuru Kenyatta. It is the only car that I have and I am not planning to buy another one before accomplishing the things that I had planned to do,” he told Daily Nation.
He adds that his new status since he was elected to Parliament will not change how he relates with his constituents who have supported him all through his life.
“They are my bosses. They gave me a job and I will continue to relate with them in the same manner I did as I was seeking their support. Unlike many politicians who turn away from their voters once they get elected, my people will always come first.”
With a six-figure salary, he is determined to change the lives of his family of eight.
He plans to uplift his mother who is a peasant farmer and his siblings who have been through hard times since the death of his father in 2014.
“My father who died in 2014 was a security company driver. My mother is a peasant farmer in Meru. Whatever she grows caters for our family but I will now supplement her efforts.”