Machakos Governor Dr Alfred Mutua has recounted his struggle with poverty growing up in Kibra.
Governor Mutua said he was brought up in abject poverty in Makina, an area in Kibra Constituency.
Addressing members of the Kamba community living in Kibra, during a campaign function at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation on Saturday, the Machakos county boss narrated how he would run into rats while going to the toilet.
"Raila, you know I was raised in Makina. I was raised up in a place called Makina near the mosque. I stayed there when I was a kid. We lived in a mud house, and fought with rats when going to the toilet.(Mheshimiwa Raila, unajua mimi nimelelewa Makina. Mimi nimelelewa mahali panaitwa Makina karibu na kanisa ya msikiti, nliishi hapo nkiwa mtoto, nkiishi kwa nyumba ya matope, tukiwa tulikuwa tunapigana na panya tukienda choo),"Governor Mutua said.
"I have been raised with the struggles of Kibra. So, as I stand here today, I understand Kibra, I am a child of Kibra, there is no Kibra problem that I do not understand. (Mimi nimelelewa na shida ya Kibra.... Kwa hivyo mimi nimesimama hapa nikielewa Kibra... mimi ni mtoto wa Kibra, hakuna shida ya Kibra mimi siifahamu)," he said
The governor encouraged locals not to give up as things would get better in future.
He used himself as a shining example that somebody can rise from grinding poverty to being a person of significance in Kenya.
Governor Mutua urged the delegation to vote for Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) candidate Imran Okoth in the upcoming by-election.