His is a story of grass to grace after he defied all odds to become one of the most prominent politicians in Kiambu and Kenya at large.
From a struggling mechanic with little education, the former late Limuru MP (2002-2007) Kuria Kanyingi rose up to a powerful power broker in Central Kenya who had President Daniel Moi's ear.
And just to underscore how significant Kanyingi was to Moi's administration, Business Daily says that the State broadcaster, KBC, had even a specific camera assigned to cover him.
"At the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, a camera was always on standby for his rallies and in the pecking order of Kiambu politics, he rose to number one, though he held no political position," Business Daily reports.
At one point in 1996, the paper adds, James Orengo now Siaya Senator, asked then Information minister to explain why KBC reserved a camera for Kanyingi and why the 'Kiambu Kanu chairman receives 10 times coverage than Cabinet ministers'.
The Diploma in Motor Vehicle Technology graduate is said to have earned Moi’s eye after he once repaired his car while he was still Kenya's vice-president under President Jomo Kenyatta.
Known for his public display of bundles of Sh100 notes, Kanyingi had even formed women bus companies all over Kiambu which were apparently for showmanship and selfish political gains.
"While he was featured prominently handing over buses to women groups, the untold story was that only Limuru women had two buses while the others were branded for an occasion and returned to General Motors. But he managed to use this philanthropy cause to drive his politics," the publication adds.
Despite his closeness to power and prominence, Kanyingi's only remarkable legacy is when he was successfully able to extinguish the rise of Dr Josephat Karanja in politics.
Karanja's short tenure as Vice-President to replace Mwai Kibaki had put him top on Moi’s succession list but Kanyingi forced his resignation thereafter saying, 'common decency has been thrown out of the window and replaced by political thuggery and vindictiveness'.
Kanyingi who was born in 1945, died in November 2014 while undergoing treatment in India and his funeral ironically had limited media presence and photo sessions in line with his last wishes.
#historynow