Kawira Mwangaza: Mutuma was my husband’s pick, not mine
Former Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza has disclosed that contrary to the widely held belief that she had a close relationship with Mutuma M’ethingia before choosing him as her running mate during the 2022 general elections, she did not, and instead, it was her husband who recommended that she pick him as her deputy.
Speaking during an exclusive interview with media personality Mwenda Saba on the night of Sunday, May 4, 2025, Kawira expressed that it pains her deeply to hear people spreading the narrative that they were good friends before the elections and insisted that his appointment was made through a last-minute, hurried deal.
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According to her, she had initially wanted to proceed to the elections with her husband, Murega Baichu, as her running mate, but Baichu himself declined, citing that people would have cast aspersions and hurled criticism at them.
“I usually hear people say that Mutuma and I knew each other way before, and it makes me feel terribly hurt because, truth be told, I had never known Mutuma before then — the one who knew him was the First Gentleman, Murega Baichu, since they had been longtime friends; and at some point, I even asked my husband if I could choose him as my deputy, but he said that people would troll us heavily if I did so, although I had insisted that I should pick him because I knew I was going to win, but he told me there was no need as it would attract backlash and instead he said, ‘Let me find someone for you.”
Kawira further opened up about the sequence of events that led to her eventual election in 2022, revealing that the rush to choose a deputy arose from the fact that she had focused so heavily on her campaign trail — because people were welcoming her so warmly — that she even forgot that it was a legal requirement to have a running mate.
She disclosed that this realisation dawned on them around eight months before the election and added that it was then that she pleaded with her husband to guide her on the direction she ought to take in that regard.
“Personally, after engaging in politics and campaigning for the governor’s seat with great zeal, I completely forgot that I had no running mate, and I only realised this when the elections were just eight months away; but you see, what was happening was that I had already seen the signs and I was confident that I was going to clinch that seat — during the campaigns I never used to move around with anyone in the name of a deputy, and the people of Meru also know that I would traverse the region campaigning with no one else but my husband, Murega — so after going through the entire campaign and with only five months left to the election, we realised that having a running mate was a mandatory requirement for clearance to run.”
Kawira then disclosed that after her husband declined her request that he becomes her deputy, he vowed to find someone else for her, but she gave him a set of strict conditions that the person he was going to bring must meet, as she did not want someone who would later on become a source of stress in her leadership.
She shared that the primary condition was that the individual must be a born-again Christian, and Mutuma passed the test because he was already a bishop.
Kawira added that another condition she had set was that the person had to be politically clean and with no past blemishes on their record, and she confirmed that Mutuma also passed that test, as nothing negative was found in the records associated with his name.
“And one of the conditions was that the deputy must have resigned from whatever job they were holding so that they could be cleared to run with me — so my husband and I started discussing and reflecting on who would be a suitable deputy for me, and I told him that the first condition was that the person he brings to me must be a born-again Christian, and that they should be politically clean and someone who wouldn’t interfere with me when I embark on my mandate; and he told me he had someone who fit all those characteristics, and he proudly said that the person he was bringing to me had all those qualities — so he called Mutuma and they spoke, and he informed me that Mutuma was working in the prisons department, and we agreed that he should resign first.”
However, Kawira lamented that when they told Mutuma he would need to resign from his position at the prisons department, he initially hesitated, and she was quick to rebuke him, telling him that he should understand that she does not work with people who are uncertain or filled with doubt.
She recalled telling him that she wasn’t merely speculating about whether she was going to win — she was absolutely sure — and added that she gave him another opportunity to decide, and it was then that he chose to quit his job and tender his resignation.
“Mutuma asked whether I was sure I would win since we were asking him to resign, and I told him it was not even about whether I would win — I had already won — and I told him that if he had doubts, he should not rush to resign, because I don’t walk with people who are unsure of themselves, and if he was doubting, then I was giving him a chance to stay put and not resign.”
Kawira added that there were other logistical challenges that Mutuma faced in the period leading up to the elections, but she declined to go into the details, only sharing that they sorted everything out quickly because she did not want to disappoint her husband, who had recommended someone with so much conviction.
In a sombre conclusion to the interview, Kawira expressed regret over her choice of Mutuma as her deputy, likening the situation to rearing a snake that eventually turns and devours its keeper—a reference to how Mutuma was later sworn in as governor following her turbulent impeachment.
“Of course he had some challenges here and there, but we resolved them because I didn’t want to let my husband down, especially since he had brought me someone who was a close friend of his to be my deputy — we started the process and gradually got to know each other, and though at one point I had doubts about him, I convinced myself to stay strong because I had already made the choice — little did I know that I was nurturing a snake that would eventually turn against me.”
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Steve Ireri
Steve is a senior writer with over four years of experience in digital journalism. His focus is on the showbiz and human interest stories. Emails: [email protected] , [email protected]
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