Late in 2016, Peter Karanja Mburu declared his interest in Naivasha’s Lake View Ward seat.
At the moment many thought he was out his senses and that he could not make it but that did not deter the youthful politician from traversing the ward on the campaign trail in seeking votes from the people.
In an earlier interview with Hivisasa, Karanja says it was not an easy task because young people are not easily trusted when it comes to leadership.
His campaign slogan was ‘Mabadiliko Sasa’ Swahili term loosely translated to 'it is time for a change'.
True to his courage and confidence the people of Lake View Ward awarded him during the 2017 August polls and the graduate from St.Paul’s University in Business Administration and management won the seat on a Jubilee ticket in a contest he says was strong because he was competing against the who is who in the area including the former MCA Simon Wanango.
And three years since he took over the leadership mantle, the soft-spoken Karanja has not in any way let down the people of Lake View Ward and Nakuru County residents when it comes to matters development.
This is evident in many people-centred motions that he has sponsored at the county assembly of Nakuru.
The first motion that the first time Jubilee MCA sponsored was one to compel the County Government of Nakuru to ensure opening of the corridors of Lake Naivasha that had been grabbed by private investors.
The motion sailed through and the process of opening up the corridors commenced.
This, he says was to ensure economic empowerment for the youths in the area who depend on the Lake Naivasha.
“I came up with this motion because it is the only way to help the unemployed youths in the areas that now depend on the lake for their economic empowerment,” said Karanja.
On affordable housing as one of the Jubilee Big 4 Agenda, MCA Mburu has been able to sponsor a motion at the County assembly of Nakuru to ensure digitization of building plans.
According to the MCA, the motion that also sailed through will address the challenges that have been witnessed due to the tedious manual process besides corruption issues.
The motion means that those who want to submit their building plants can only do it through an online platform and this will also address the issue of mediocrity and cartels hence making the cost of building affordable.
“As a Jubilee Legislator I believe in the Big 4 agenda and that is why I came up with this motion to ensure that we make building cost affordable by addressing the challenges in the sector,” he said.
In addressing the challenges faced by Kenyans in accessing quality healthcare, MCA Karanja Mburu sponsored a motion on NHIF to ensure everyone in the society has health insurance.
He says this is in line with Jubilee Government Big 4 agenda on universal healthcare, 350 poor households in Naivasha’s Lake View Ward will benefit from the same to a tune of Sh2.1 million for full health coverage for one year.
“We have been talking about universal healthcare and the only way to ensure that is by making sure every Kenyan has health insurance and that is why I came up with this motion to ensure those who cannot afford the NHIF can be catered for,” says MCA Mburu.
The last motions that youthful Nakuru MCA has sponsored is on ensuring children with autism are not discriminated. While noting that education in particular ECDE is devolved, the legislator reveals that the motion was prompted by the fact that children with autism have ended up being discriminated due to lack of special ECDE classes for them.
“We must ensure that children with autism do not face any form of discrimination and that is why through the motion we want the County government of Nakuru to ensure special classrooms for them,” says Mburu.
He adds that the motions he sponsored are aimed at ensuring that the people of Lake View Ward and Nakuru County as a whole get the fruits of devolution.
Besides, Karanja has been able to sponsor 12 needy students through full scholarship courtesy of his foundation, friends and Nakuru County Assembly Speaker Engineer Joel Maina Kairu.
He has also been able to sponsor 400 carpenters to have National Construction Authority (NCA) cards which cost Sh1200 each.
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