Ferdinand Ndung'u Waititu alias 'Baba Yao' is not a new name to many Kenyans.
Waititu has hit headlines for all the good and bad reasons from the time he started to serve as a councillor in the now defunct Nairobi City Council to now being Kiambu governor.
Known for his no-nonsense approach to issues, Waititu has established himself as a politician who has climbed the political ladder from the humble beginnings.Waititu attracts attention to any place he goes.
Waititu was born on January, 1962 in Kibera slums where he grew up.
He graduated from Dagoretti High school in 1981 and proceeded to the Technical University of Kenya (TUK), then Kenya Polytechnic.
In 1991, Waititu commonly known as 'Baba Yao' flew to India where he studied Degree in Economics and Commerce at Punjab University.
Waititu's eduction background has, however,been a matter of contoversry. In 2016, former Kiambu governor William Kabogo filed a suit at the High court questioning Waititu's academic qualifications.
Kabogo claimed that the former Kabete MP was not academically fit to hold a public office.
Waititu was first elected Embakasi MP in 2007 after serving as councillor in 2006.
In 2013, Waititu unsuccessfully contested for the Nairobi gubernatorial seat, losing to former governor Evans Kidero.Waititu unsuccessfully petitioned Kidero's win in the 2013 Nairobi governor race.
The now Kiambu governor shot back to politics when he contested for the Kabete by-election following the death of George Muchai in 2015. Waititu won the seat on Jubilee ticket.
Months after wining the Kabete seat, Waititu declared interest in the Kiambu governor seat vowing to send the then governor William Kabogo home.
Waititu was thereafter to become a darling of many Kiambu residents as he led a fierce fight against illicit brews. As governor Kabogo's political populairy dwindled, Waititu's fame was steadily rising.
Waititu often engaged Kabogo in cofrontations and public spats in some instances turning ugly.
President Uhuru Kenyatta at one time revealed that he was not visiting his home town Kiambu, because of Kabogo and Waititu's political differences.
Waititu humiliated Kabogo in the Jubilee primaries to clinch the party ticket in the run-up to the 2017 general election.
In the August 8 polls, the former MP easily won the seat beating Kabogo who was contesting as an independent candidate.
Waititu describes himself as a family man, married to one wife, and a staunch chritisian.
In one of his interviews prior to last year's polls, the Kiambu governor revealed that he does not take alcohol.
This, he said was informed by his drunken father who abandoned Waititu and his siblings when they were very young, leaving the burden of bringing them up to his mother.
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