Alfred Mutai might have been an underdog in the Kuresoi North Parliamentary race but he came out on top in the just concluded United Democratic Alliance (UDA) primaries.
Mutai, 35, is the sitting ward representative for Sirikwa in Nakuru County.
He floored four other candidates including the incumbent and National Assembly deputy speaker Moses Cheboi. Warthog as he is popularly known, garnered 17,180 votes against Cheboi’s 12,454 and Leonard Borr’s 2,284.
“I thank the people of Kuresoi North for bestowing on me the honour of flying the UDA flag in the August 9 polls. I am confident that I will win and represent them in Parliament,” the first-time MCA told the Nation.
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The ward rep who was formerly a charcoal maker, was born in Kaplong, Bomet County before his family moved to Kuresoi in 1996.
Growing up an orphan, Warthog knows exactly how it feels to live from hand to mouth.
“Losing a parent at a young age was not easy. It forced me to work at a tender age to join hands with my elder siblings to support the others and also so that I (could earn) money for my school fees, but luckily I completed my studies after hustling all through,” he said.
The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (Jkuat) alumni studied information technology. Due to lack of tuition, the course took him four years to complete.
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Mutai also served time behind bars for illegal logging. He pleaded guilty and was released after two weeks in custody to serve a six-month probation sentence.
“I knew the business was illegal but I had no alternative. I needed to go to school myself and my siblings were also studying, but I thank the magistrate for hearing me out during mitigation before sentencing. I opened up on what I was going through and luckily he was touched by my story and gave me the probation sentence,” he said.
“I used to get good money. I can’t complain, my college fee was Sh64,000 per semester. I used to survive with bursaries and Helb loans and the rest I could pay with the money I got from selling charcoal.”
When he was discovered preparing to make charcoal, he was jailed once more. He was fined substantially this time, but his extended family came through for him.
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He ran for the Sirikwa ward seat in 2017 while still a student and won on a Jubilee ticket. He claimed that a buddy assisted him in paying the registration fee.
The father of three credited his recent victory to his manifesto and community development efforts in his ward.
He stated that improving the quality of education in the constituency is one of his top priorities.
Combating youth unemployment, empowering women, and modernizing infrastructure are also on his agenda. He stated that he will work with the devolved unit to upgrade existing facilities.
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