By Prudence Minayo
Irungu Kang’ata is a Kenyan politician and lawyer, currently serving as the senator for Murang’a county. He is also a law lecturer at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and a PHD (Law) researcher at the University of Nairobi. His political career began at a young age while he was still an undergraduate Law student at the UoN. The lawyer is a devout Catholic who has previously opposed the rights of the LGBT community. In 2015, when the former United States President Barack Obama was planning to visit Kenya, he organized a peaceful demonstration in Nairobi against LGBT people. This was intended to stop the US president from mentioning gay rights during his visit.
Irungu Kang’ata has also been known to fight for the rights of the people and firm stance against corruption. He fired 3 members of the local CDF committee over misappropriation of bursary funds in 2015 and the following year called for the overhaul of the judiciary due to claims of bribery among judges and magistrates. He also filed a petition accusing the KRA enforcement of corruption that has led to the presence of bogus alcoholic drinks in the market.
Age
He was born in 1980 in Murang’a county.
Education
Primary: Murang’a Township Primary School
Secondary: Thika High School
University: University of Nairobi for a Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree.
In 1999, while still at University, he was chosen as the vice chair of Kenya Law Student Society. He then became the vice chairman of Student Organization of Nairobi University (SONU).
In 2000, he was suspended from the university for three years for leading a strike. He went back in 2003 after the NARC government had taken over and granted amnesty to students who had been suspended previously. Kang’ata graduated in 2005 and proceeded to Kenya School of Law in 2006. He then got a Master of Laws (LL.M) degree from the University of Nairobi.
Career
It is clear that Irungu delved into politics at a very early age. Apart from being a student leader, he was also elected councilor for Central Ward in Murang’a. This was in 2002 while he was still suspended from the University of Nairobi for protesting the discrimination of regular students who were not allowed to take some courses that were reserved for parallel students.
In 2007, he was admitted to the bar.
In 2009, he got employed in the attorney general’s office as a state counsel but left later on to form his own firm. The name of his firm is Irungu Kang’ata and Company Advocates. The firm, located in Upperhill, Nairobi specializes in corporate law.
Irungu defended Ruth Kerubo in 2012 in a case against the then deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza. Ruth was a security guard who had allegedly been assaulted by Nancy Baraza.
In 2013, he won the Kiharu parliamentary seat on a TNA ticket.
In the 2017 general elections, he vied for the Muranga senatorial seat which was being held by Kembi Gitura. This was a contradictory move considering the fact that he had previously demanded the senate be scrapped off, saying that it duplicated tasks of the National Assembly. However, he withdrew the statement saying that devolution can not be realized without the senate. He won the senatorial seat after garnering 55.11% of the votes.
In May 2020, he replaced Susan Kihika as the Senator Majority Chief Whip for the Jubilee Party.
DJ Job
The Murang’a senator loves reggae music and once worked as a disk jockey. Having been raised in Murang’a in a low income area, reggae music was a genre of music that most of the young people listened to. While learning about history in Primary School, he learnt about how the blacks in South Africa were being discriminated against. He wondered why other South African singers like Chaka Chaka were not singing about this but reggae artists were doing so yet most were from Jamaica. Thus, he fell in love with reggae as according to him it was music with a positive message.
In 2000, when he was suspended from the University of Nairobi, he took up a DJ job in order to keep himself busy.
Personal Life
The politician was born to the late Joseph Irungu and the late Margaret Wangechi. He lost his father to cancer in February, 2020 and his mother died of hypertension and diabetes in February 2019.
The senator wedded Mary Wambui at the Gathinja Catholic Church in Kiharu. The two had been together for years and are currently parents to three children. The wedding was graced by popular politicians including the President of the republic of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta. Senator Isaac Mwaura and his wife were the best couple.
Awards
- In 2015, he was nominated for the Mzalendo Trust People’s Shujaaz Award. This award is bestowed on lawmakers who advocated for matters of public interest in both the National Assembly and the senate. His nomination was due to the fact that he sponsored the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) amendment bill. The bill, which was rejected by the President, was aimed at preventing HELB from penalizing debtors who had no jobs and had filed affidavits that showed their unemployment status.
- In 2015, he was also awarded for best management of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and investing in domestic water projects. The award was given by Central Kenya Forum for Peace.
