A week before a letter purporting the resignation of Githurai Member of County Assembly (MCA) started circulating online, the ward representative had vented about how overwhelmed he was.
Mr Deonysias Mwangi Waithira, 44, cut the figure of a man with too many demands to meet but too few resources for them.
In an interview with the Nation on a separate matter, Mr Mwangi spent the first several minutes ranting about the culture shock he is in and why he was considering not seeking re-election.
“There is a big challenge that comes with the MCA seat, and that is expectations; both from the community and also from you as an aspirant. While I was vying, I myself had very high expectations. I thought I would buy a car, build a house, and build a house for my mother. But now, three years later, and today is September 9, 2025 but I still live in a rented house. I have not built a house for my mother and I have not bought a car. And I am an MCA. That is because of the expectations I had,” he said.
People see you as the one who will lift them from poverty. That costs many MCAs their re-election bids. We even have a former MCA who is now a security guard.
Photo credit: File | Nation
“Coming to the wananchi, they also have expectations: ‘This one made money; this is a millionaire who has a future.’ For me, to date, I use Fuliza. I take loans. But that is something wananchi won’t believe when you tell them.
“That is why MCAs serve one term and go. It is because people have a lot of expectations, even family members. They see you as the one who will lift them from poverty. That costs many MCAs their re-election bids.
“At City Hall, you will find former MCAs roaming around. They will be waiting for a car to be impounded, and because they know how to get it out, they will get some Sh500. That is a former MCA.
“We even have a former MCA who is now a security guard. I wouldn’t want to go into details. You have seen it in the newspapers: someone who was an MCA selling maize with their PA. That is the reality,” he said.
He is the latest to realise that the MCA’s position, and indeed most elective roles in the country, are not as rewarding as they look. When a September 17 letter came out saying he was planning to resign by November 1 if certain development issues in his ward are not addressed, it was further confirmation that he might have had enough.
“This has been one of the most difficult decisions of my life, given the sovereign trust bestowed upon me by the people of Githurai Ward and the UDA Party,” his letter said in part. “After deep reflection, I have resolved to step down due to persistent frustration with the failure of the county executive to implement projects and deliver basic services to the residents of Githurai Ward.”
Githurai 44 MCA Deonysias Mwangi Waithira speaks to journalists outside City Hall in Nairobi on September 19, 2025. He said that he was still the MCA despite reports that he had resigned.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation
In the September 9 interview, he had said he is considering never seeking a second term.
“I have been telling the wananchi that because of the pressure, I am not vying again for MCA. It is because you meet all the demands. And instead of dying of pressure while you have many years to live, [you better quit]. I have been telling them that I don’t want to vie because I have found politics to be very different from what I thought. People should also start knowing that politics is not as shiny as it looks,” he had said.
Previously, many MCAs have complained about the mismatch between the positions they hold and the financial wherewithal that comes with it.
As per the County Governments Act, an MCA’s duties are mainly linking residents with the county government. They are supposed to articulate issues affecting the grassroots in the county assembly. However, perhaps because of the nature of Kenya’s politics, the electorate’s expectations go beyond mere articulation.
“They always expect that you have money. They always expect that you should always help them, whereas we don’t have funds,” Komarock Ward Representative Chris Mtumishi told Nation in 2023.
Said Mr Mwangi: “I get called for funerals. Like last week [August 31 to September 7], I had eight funerals. This past Sunday [September 7], I had been called to six harambees: four churches and two sick people. Whoever you are, you can’t manage [to contribute to all]… You go to a funeral and are handed a budget. They tell you, ‘Mheshimiwa, thanks for coming. Our budget was Sh150,000; we have Sh50,000 and we have Sh100,000 remaining.’ And at that time you have your Sh2,000 or Sh3,000.”
According to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission’s approved payment schedules, the gross pay for an MCA for the current financial year is Sh154,481. MCAs have in the past lobbied for an increment.
“When you get in, the first thing you get is a loan. With the loan, if you can’t plan yourself properly. It is computed up to the last day of your term,” said the Githurai MCA.
“My net salary now is Sh31,000. That is due to deductions for a loan. I tried investing that loan, but it didn’t go through. I got Sh1.6 million to buy a car, but I spent that on buying land for my mother. There is no way you can be moving around in a car while your mother is living in a rented 10-by-10 mud house. So, I bought her land and started building her a house, which I have not completed. It is something I hope to have done before my term ends,” he added.
Chege Mwaura, the Ngara Member of County Assembly and Majority Chief Whip, is pictured with colleagues in the office of the speaker, following his election for service in acting capacity, September 25, 2018.
Mr Mwaura Chege, the secretary-general of the County Assemblies Forum (CAF) and who is also the Ngara MCA in Nairobi County, told Nation that they have been pushing for better terms for MCAs.
“As the forum, we have been advocating for better terms and also a working environment and anything that can enable someone to do the job better. Over and beyond that, the personal perks for the member should be considered so that after he or she has helped [others], he or she can have something left for their families,” he said.
The ward representative highlighted the disconnect between the public’s perception of MCAs as millionaires and the reality of their struggles
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
To the wananchi, however, MCAs appear to have many sources of income at their disposal, among them trips and retreats. Some MCAs also appear to be benefiting from governors so as not to reach for the impeachment sword that has felled a number of county bosses.
“It is a complex governance issue, but I think with time, people will understand better the role of legislators,” said the CAF secretary-general, who added that the MCAs’ onslaught against governors is usually in the push for development projects.
Since the advent of devolution, MCAs have been pushing to have an institutionalised kitty under their control, much like Members of Parliament have the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF).
Said the Githurai MCA: “If there is someone who suffers among the six who are elected at the ballot is the MCA... In the whole of Kenya, an MCA doesn’t have even a Sh10 budget.”
He added, “What the MCA gets is the Ward Development Fund (WDF). And because it is not in the Constitution, governors don’t allocate uniform amounts.”
He noted that under the WDF, the county executive handles procurement and sends contractors to the site.
“When the contractor finishes, as the MCA you won’t even know when they were paid. So, there is nowhere the MCA interacts with money,” he said.
Mr Mwaura said CDF helps MPs manage the financial pressures, “which doesn’t happen at our level”.
“Unfortunately, an MP is in Nairobi while the MCA is in the ward. Most likely, they live there and so they can’t evade the wananchi. So, it can be frustrating to that extent,” he said.
Nairobi City County Assembly Speaker Kennedy Ng’ondi says he has not received an official resignation letter from Githurai MCA Deonysias Mwangi (inset).
Photo credit: Nation
Mr Mwangi did not immediately respond to calls regarding his “resignation”. On Friday, Nairobi City County Assembly Speaker Kennedy Ngondi said no formal resignation had been sent to his office.
“What came to my office was a letter addressed to the Speaker, but unsigned. An unsigned letter is no letter at all,” he said.
Mr Mwangi, alias Mwangi wa Soko ya Mawe, is a first-time MCA, having been elected in 2022 after his first bid in 2017 failed. He made a name for himself by helping locals process documents like birth certificates and IDs. A former waiter and later a tailor in Githurai, he is married with four children. He told Nation that he was elected in 2022 despite being too broke to finance his campaigns.
“I didn’t even have Sh10. People were asking me to vie whilst I had been locked out of my house. I was staying outdoors with my children. But people elected me regardless,” he said. “People fundraised. I was even given cars to campaign with for free.”
