Purity Ngirici: Women should leave comfort zones to spur political inclusion
Kirinyaga politician Wangui Ngirici at St Thomas Kerugoya Anglican Cathedral.
What you need to know:
- Former gubernatorial candidate's strong convictions and stand on issues that affect her constituents and her fighting spirit endeared her to many people, helping to raise her political profile.
- Former lawmaker says aspirants have to listen to their constituents and invest in what they need to "to feel the pulse of the people”.
Purity Ngirici is not one of your ordinary leaders that you will easily dismiss when it comes to political contests. The past two elections of 2017 and 2022 have proved that she is a formidable force to reckon with in Kirinyaga politics.
Her strong convictions and stand on issues that affect her constituents and her fighting spirit has endeared her to many people, helping to raise her political profile.
It all started in the 2017 General Election when Purity thrust herself into the political arena, winning the Kirinyaga Woman Representative seat with a landslide.
While in Parliament, she established herself as a transformative figure. She was instrumental in crafting a policy credited for the establishment of gender desks in police stations. She also served as the chairperson of Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (Kewopa) using her leadership to deepen women’s engagement in governance and democracy.
But Purity’s name came to be known widely in and beyond Kirinyaga, when, in the 2022 General Election, she ran for one of the most bruising contests for the governorship position.
“Although I lost the seat by a small margin, my support base remains intact and I will tilt the political arithmetic in my favour come 2027.”
Purity, who draws a lot of inspiration from Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua, strongly believes that there is no glass ceiling that cannot be shattered.
“I am a strong-willed person and I don’t give up easily. I am a fighter for things I believe in. I don’t get intimidated easily, and when I am passionate about and committed to something, you need a force akin to that of mountains to move me back.”
Her greatest asset has been her track record of development. “I always set my goals and focus on my deliverables.”
Innovative strategies that won hearts
Her enviable track record and firm stand on issues affecting Kirinyaga people have made her popular. And she has exploited this by branding herself as a dependable and principled leader.
According to Purity, her track record as a woman representative was unrivalled. She says she delivered on most of her campaign pledges, and takes credit for the successful implementation of live-changing projects.
“I built an ultra-modern market in Kerugoya Kutus, which today continues to serve residents. I also constructed schools, and addressed rampant water problems in Ciagine and Gatwiri wards by drilling more boreholes.”
Through her Wangui Ngirici Foundation, she has helped needy students to complete their studies. “For girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, I managed to distribute sanitary towels to them to minimise absenteeism from school and increase their retention rates.”
But if there are groups in her county that gave her unwavering support during the 2022 elections, they are the youth and women. She attributes this to the projects she initiated to uplift them from poverty.
Still, she did not rest on her laurels even with such support. She conducted several opinion polls to see just how popular she was ahead of the elections.
“This helped us to monitor the voting patterns and reach out to more people ahead of the elections.”
The polls further informed how she designed her campaign strategies. Establishment of committees at polling centres to oversee and provide information on how to engage the voters was one of them. Purity says this strategy convinced people that this was not about her, but them. “In Wamumu ward, for instance, I got all the votes. The electorate guarded the votes jealously and made sure nobody stole their votes.”
In the digital space, she employed people to man her online campaign. “I created a website to popularise my candidature. Other Social media platforms played a key role in rallying young people to support my bid. I was able to share all the work that I had done, no matter how small, on these platforms.”
Her campaign, she notes, was focused on issues, and she did not allow her opponents to distract her. “My slogan, mutumia wa wira, meaning a working woman, resonated with the electorate, and saw me get overwhelming endorsements from people.”
Purity recalls that by the time of the elections, her candidature had garnered massive support across Kirinyaga. For her, this support was a culmination of hard work and philanthropic initiatives.
Then came election day, and she set into motion another strategy. “On election day, my team came up with an app where our agents were sending results directly from the polling centres to our centre where they were tabulated. By the time the results were announced, we had the numbers, apart from a few disparities.”
Having your own tallying centre is important as it helps a candidate to have the peace of mind and keep track of what is happening, she says.
No easy journey
Indeed, such peace of mind is important in the face of challenges. Purity says that even for her, her political journey has not been easy. She recalls how – even after being among the founders of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party and steering the formation of Inua Mama campaign, which rallied women to support President William Ruto presidential bid – she was humiliated.
UDA insisted that she drop her bid for the gubernatorial seat in favour of her opponent, Ms Anne Waiguru. “This forced me to leave the party and vie for the seat as an independent. At first, I thought I was finished, but I was amazed by the unwavering support I got from people who vowed to support me.”
But the party was not done with her. Purity terms it shocking that the same people she supported in Parliament aggressively campaigned against her candidature. She lost, but after putting up a spirited fight.
“When I lost, I did not feel bad for myself but for the people who supported me. I felt like I had betrayed them for not winning.
“I felt bad for the women and people of Mwea constituency who voted 100 per cent for me. I remember one of the beneficiaries of my bursary kitty wrote a sad message and told me: ‘You are not the one who lost, we are the ones who have lost.’”
For her, the performance she recorded in this election was a result of the support of these voters and civil society organisations. She was among the women candidates who received information, education, and communication (IEC) support from the UN Women through Kewopa.
While she says such support makes a difference, she wants it to come many months before voting day, and be executed in a progressive manner.
“What we need is some kind of progression, slowly building up, intensifying as we go to the elections. But we need to make progress even now in terms of mobilising the ground to enable more women to sell their agenda to the public.”
Lessons on political engagements
All said and done, Purity says many useful lessons she has learnt over the years continue to define her political life. One has to listen to her constituents and invest in what they need. “I have learnt to feel the pulse of the people.”
She has also learnt not to leave anything to chance. “Always make sure you do everything right. Above all, you must make God your priority. Ask Him to lead and guide you in what you do.”
Purity says another useful lesson is that women must believe in themselves if gender equality and women’s empowerment initiatives are to translate into tangible results. “It is not enough to have numbers. We can have numbers, but if the women are captured by their political parties, most of which are led by men, then we are not going to have the passion to drive women issues.”
For her, women must unleash their passion to fight for what they believe in and not just things affecting women but things affecting the country.
She advises women seeking elective posts to stay focused, sell their agenda and demonstrate their ability to lead and deliver.
“They must believe they have what it takes to bring tangible change in areas that affect them since they understand better the unique interests of women and girls.”
She is happy that the space has been opened up for women in political leadership.
“Right now, women must get out of their comfort spaces and join political leadership. You have what it takes to withstand the ridicule, the dirt, the politicking and the intimidation.”
AWC Feature Service
