Jane Njeri Maina is an advocate of the high court of Kenya and the Kirinyaga County women’s representative. Aged 29, she is the youngest legislator ever elected in central Kenya.
This is her journey as told by WoK:
Njeri was born in 1994 in Mugumo, Kirinyaga County. Her education journey began at Kiangoma primary school, also in Kirinyaga.
Being the last born, her short stature meant that she walked to school slower than her peers and was often punished for lateness.
After her KCPE, Njeri proceeded to Kabare Girls High School and later Nairobi University to pursue law. She was admitted to the bar as an advocate of the high court in 2019.
Prior to plunging into politics, Njeri tried several things, including being a musician. Her last recorded song, a love song, was called Mr. Right. However, her music was not well received.
Her next try was entrepreneurship.
“The only thing I have never sold in Nairobi is quail eggs,” she told Inooro TV in an interview.
She would venture to the Gikomba market very early in the morning, purchase mitumba clothes, photograph them, and post them on her Facebook page dubbed Carolla Njeri Collections.
At that time, many sellers had not embraced Facebook, so buyers were many.
“I would do the marketing and delivery, even though I did not have a shop. My parents discouraged me, saying that I was stooping too low for money. But I wanted to be independent,” said Njeri, who is fondly nicknamed Gacheri by Kirinyaga residents.
As a memento of her struggling years, Njeri currently runs a retail shop in Nairobi CBD and although the shop had not made any profits for three months when she was interviewed two months ago, she still has a deep sentimental attachment to it as it reminds her of her past.
Leadership
Ever ambitious, Njeri tried her hand at politics in 2017 when she vied for the position of speaker of Kirinyaga county assembly aged 23.
Out of 25 contestants, she emerged third with only one vote. The speaker, the second runner-up, and Njeri were the only people who received votes. The experience taught her valuable lessons and fired her political ambitions.
In 2022, she vied for the Kirinyaga women rep seat. Many people discouraged her, with one person remarking that she would fail so hard that she would leave an imprint of a person on the ground.
For campaign money, she organized harambees. One Harambee was attended by 200 people and raised ksh 250 000. Half of the money was contributed by family members. She used it to pay for her UDA nomination ticket.
However, tragedy struck when her father died even before she had actualized her dream of becoming a woman rep. She went into grieving while still on the campaign trail.
“I would hide somewhere and cry before I went to address the crowd,” she says. She did not want sympathy votes.
Despite the setback, she won the women rep seat with an overwhelming 175, 001 votes as reported by Parents.
According to Njeri, her mother still treats her the same way she did before becoming a legislator. She still commands her to wash utensils and do other house chores.
Unsurprisingly, the beautiful lawyer has received many proposals from admirers. “I blue tick them to protect my space because 99% of them did not know me before I became a leader,” she says.
Her sound morals have earned her the respect of fellow leaders in parliament, who address her as Wakili. When not at work, she spends her free time napping and pursuing her hobbies.
