By Kijana Makini
Among the many numbers that have flown across Laikipia’s political discourse in recent years, one stands out – Ksh. 460 million transforming into Ksh. 1.2 billion.
That leap – from the county’s revenue collection before Ndiritu Muriithi became Governor to the figure achieved under his leadership – is what young politician Consolata Wairimu Waweru calls a breakthrough you cannot argue with.
Speaking with an earnestness that was refreshingly unscripted, Wairimu held up that financial turnaround as proof of what transformative leadership is all about. For her, revenue collection is not a dry bureaucratic detail.
Rather, it is the bloodstream of governance. More revenue means better roads, functional hospitals and timely salaries. Wairimu, an aspiring Laikipia Woman Representative and member of the Kenya Reform Party, is clear about why young voters should care.
She argues that the youth have been sold a fantasy in that politics is about charisma, celebrity endorsements and viral moments. Ndiritu’s record, she counters, offers a different curriculum. Without shouting, he reformed systems, tightened leakages and showed that with resolve and discipline public resources are protectable.
This is not a nostalgic tribute to a bygone (and hopefully bounce-back) leader. It is a challenge directed squarely at her generation. Wairimu insists that young people must stop treating elections as entertainment.
They should instead become forensic examiners of past performance. Has a candidate ever turned around a failing institution?
Have they built anything lasting? Can they point to a single dusty township that became an entrepreneurial hub because of their policies?
The governor’s school-building record—a dozen new institutions from scratch—reinforces the same point. Education and social progress are two sides of the same coin.
One generates future opportunity while the other creates sustainability. Wairimu’s own political journey embodies this philosophy.
She is not asking for favours because she is young or female. She is asking voters to apply the same standard to her. Let them examine her ideas, watch her consistency and judge her by what she eventually delivers.
In the end, her message cuts through the fog of Kenyan politics.
Do not vote for the dazzle. Vote for the ledger. Vote for the person who has already proven they can turn four hundred million into a billion. That, she says, is the only noise worth making.
Kijana Makini is a Nairobi-based budding politician.
