A former member of county assembly (MCA) from Murang’a has broken his silence on the tribulations has been going through after losing his seat in the 2017 elections.
He has now decided to apply for a driver’s job at the assembly where he served as a lawmaker.
Mr Joseph Ndung’u Njogu, who represented Ichagaki Ward in Maragua Constituency from 2013 to 2017 said that after losing his seat, he felt depressed after spending Sh1.2 million in campaigns.
He told the Nation on Thursday saying he was only left with a plot and an unfinished building which he also contemplated selling to sustain himself.
He said he had sold his electronics shop along Luthuli Avenue in Nairobi to get into the murky world of politics in 2013.
After he was elected, Mr Njogu maintained close contact with his electorate and them financially, leaving him with nothing by the end of his term.
In an exclusive interview with the Nation, Mr Ndung’u said after losing his seat, he approached his wife and his father who played a big role in helping him manage the stress he was going through.
They advised him to look for a casual job away from Murang’a in order to avoid ridicule and humiliation from the public and the political class.
“I felt as if it was the end of me. I had used Sh1.2 million for campaigns. I had sold me electronics shop in Maragua town which I had reopened after selling another one in Nairobi. My only wealth was an unfinished building on my plot. My wife and my father urged me to accept my new status and that’s how I was employed as a store keeper in Nairobi, thanks to one of my former colleagues,” he told the Nation.
He said after exiting political office, he lost so many friends and his phone stopped ringing. He had to cope with the new life as he struggled to provide for his young family.
“I had worked for the people relentlessly but they voted me out. I will never again seek any elective post because one is deceived by the electorate with fake promises. Had I not joined politics, my business would have thrived; but I have learnt a lesson,” he said in a voice clearly full of regrets.
According to the former MCA, the idea of working at the assembly as a driver came to him when he saw an advert in the dailies announcing three vacancies.
He said if he secures the driver’s job, it will be a good re-starting point in his life.
“By working as a driver, I can take a bank loan and I will start all over again. The wages I get from the storekeeping job only allow me to feed my young family and I won’t mind what the community will say about me even when required to drive the MCAs. I’m ready for the task,” he told the Nation.
He said after election as MCA, he would earn about half a million shillings a month but he would use most of it on his his electorate and funding his new lifestyle of “mheshimiwa”.
He added that while he was an MCA, he pursued a diploma in community service but he has unsuccessfully looked for job and this informed his decision to apply for a driver’s position with the aim of advancing his studied in future.
Mr Njogu said he is ready to take up a job as a personal driver of any Kenyan willing to offer him one.
He is also ready for any other job related to governance and administration or social work.
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