National Alliance Rainbow Coalition (Narc) party leader Charity Ngilu is a politician who cannot be ignored in Ukambani.
The former Lands Cabinet Secretary who once contested for the presidency against former president Daniel Moi has already announced that she will be back in the political field, this time to unseat Dr Julius Malombe as the next Kitui governor.
In the last general election, Ms Ngilu was Jubilee coalition’s political pillar in Ukambani after making a last minute dash to ditch Raila Odinga for Uhuru Kenyatta.
Ngilu however appears to have since fallen out with the Jubilee administration after she was hounded out of office on corruption allegations and is now carefully making her political calculations.
Those who know her describe her as a political front-line soldier whose ‘ammunition’ shoots without missing. Although Jubilee did not manage as much votes as expected, Ngilu managed to secure a big job as a cabinet secretary in President Kenyatta’s government, something which many interpreted as a ‘reward’ for her contribution in advancing Jubilee’s agenda in a Cord-dominated region.
But whatever step she takes, Ngilu remains one of the few political figures to watch in Ukambani.