Prior to 2017, Purity Ngirici Wangui led a rather quiet life and concentrated on her family’s vast investments across different fields. This low profile however took an abrupt change when Ngirici declared her interest to vie for the Kirinyaga woman representative seat.
Though she was then a novice politician, one thing she knew was that one had to court attention at all cost and crush her enemies completely. Through her billionaire husband, Ngirici mounted an affluent campaign characterised with a hired chopper and high end SUVs as she successfully won the woman rep seat.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Age
Ngirici was born in 1978 and is aged 44 by the time of this publication.
Family
She is married to Andrew Peter Ngirici, a business mogul who dropped out of school in class 4 and began doing menial jobs before he established himself in the matatu industry. Details on Andrew Ngirici’s biography are well captured in our past article.
Purity Ngirici Education
The 44 year studied at Karoti Secondary School. She pursued a Bachelors of Commerce at a London University. She holds a Masters in Human Resource Management from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
Career, Philanthropy and Investments
Wangui’s career began in NGO’s and she worked at the World Food Programme for a short period before she ventured into business with her husband.
They began by importing tyres and vehicles before spreading tentacles into real estate, mining, transport and media.
Before joining politics, Ngirici was involved in charity work that encompassed educating the less fortunate and organizing free medical camps. She also helped rice farmers in Kirinyaga by offering her tractors to be used in desalting of canals.
“I’ve been able to educate up to 48 children and through well wishers I’ve been able to establish free medical camps in almost every ward in my county,” Ngirici said in a past interview.
She added: “I took my tractors and put them on the ground in Kirinyaga. I am doing desilting of canals for rice farmers.”
Read Also: How To Run A Successful Tractor Service Business In Kenya
Politics
Ngirici’s promising career in politics was evident when she won the Jubilee party woman representative primaries by scooping a massive 127k votes. She went on to win during the general elections.
Despite working like clockwork with Governor Anne Waiguru during the campaigns, the two appeared to severe ties immediately after the elections.
Ngirici gave Waiguru’s inauguration a wide berth, alleging that her supporters had humiliated her and Waiguru did nothing about it.
“Respect is two-way traffic and if Waiguru does not respect me as as a duly elected leader or as her mentor, then I will not also recognise her. When I was declared the winner of the seat by the county returning officer, Waiguru’s supporters burst into songs as they mocked me…she was present and did not stop her supporters from mocking me. I was very annoyed,” Ngirici said as quoted by Business Today.
Read Also: Anne Waiguru Biography, Age, Education, Family, Scandals, Political Career & Joining UDA.
Handshake
The relationship between Waiguru and Ngirici got frostier as they openly led different routes especially after the handshake. While Waiguru was seen to be on the Kieleweke pact, Ngirici was a noteworthy politician allied DP William Ruto Tangatanga wing.
At one point, Ngirici rolled out a parallel campaign dubbed ‘Ngirici and Sons Rescue Team’ that was meant to offer healthcare, water and ambulance services. Waiguru’s government was deemed to have failed on such crucial areas.
Later on, Ngirici converted the offices of the rescue team for use by the UDA party in a move to show loyalty to Deputy President William Ruto. Additionally, she even rebranded her luxury vehicles to the yellow and green colors of UDA party.
Breaking Ranks with Ruto
However, in October 2021, Ruto received Waiguru as she officially decamped to UDA party, a matter that seemed to burst Ngirici’s bubble.
A frustrated Ngirici told the Standard that she has sensed betrayal and will only concentrate on Kirinyaga politics; never will she accompany Ruto across the country as she previously did.
“You will never see or hear me climbing a campaign truck conducting presidential elections. I will concentrate on Kirinyaga.”
“I no longer peg my hopes of being elected governor to Ruto. I entirely depend on God and the people of Kirinyaga,” she said.
Ngirici added: “Kirinyaga people do not entertain being smeared with porridge.”
