When Isaac Mwaura Migua attempted to join Starehe Boys in 1997,
the legendary director Geoffrey Griffins turned him away, saying he
could not admit an “an injured child.”
Earlier,
Mwaura’s young life was a full tray of trauma; his father had separated
from his mother saying he was not his son; the old man could not
reconcile with the birth of an albino child in his family.
“He
said I was not his son. I was brought up by my mother in Githurai
Kimbo,” says the MP. Having studied in Special Schools throughout his
life, Mwaura is quite sensitive to any iota of discrimination — real or
imagined.
From Thika Schools for the Blind for both
his Primary and secondary education, justice for all has been a major
concern for this young man.
He thus does not allow anyone to discriminate against him.
So
when a secret list of the alleged winning team at the ODM delegates
conference was leaked without his name, he vowed the elections would not
continue.
“We were just about to carry out a very
undemocratic exercise. I did not know I was capable of stopping it. But
I was sure my opinion would be heard,” avers Mwaura.
Mwaura’s
recollection is that the infamous list that replaced his name with that
of Peter Ole Musei for position of deputy secretary-general emerged
after a lunch break at around 4 pm.
“When I went to complain to the National Elections Board (NEB), I found some of them distributing the list. I got mad,” he says.
Mwaura
was irked because he was a key member in the think tank that coined the
euphoric “ Team Fresh” mantra that had propelled the Ababu
Namwamba-Hassan Joho camp to near win.
“To edge me out was unacceptable,” he avers
So did he stop the elections under the direction of some big forces?
“I have never been paid by anyone to use me politically. If the list
had not emerged, the polls could have gone on,” he asserts.
Since the polls debacle last weekend, Mwaura, oscillates around the tag of a hero or villain.
“To
real owners of ODM, I saved the party, to enemies of ODM, I do not
know,” says Mwaura. Everywhere he goes, Mwaura steals attention.
When
not in suits and shirts of different shades, he completes his style
with a Mobutu cap. Other times, he shows up in a godfather hat or
African attire especially the Nigerian type.
During his
first year at Kenyatta University where he studied Special Education
and French, he led a strike against an NGO that was exploiting blind
students at the university.
Seeking power is part of this Kiambu born activist.
He was elected to represent special needs students at the students
union, Kusa. In 2005, he was prevailed to run for Kusa chairmanship but
failed to capture the seat.
FUTURE PLANS
Mwaura believes he is a social democrat at heart.
In
fact, his journey to ODM, against the grain was triggered when he was
introduced to ODM Secretary General Anyang’ Nyong’o by his daughter,
award-winning movie star Lupita.
“In 2006, I met Lupita
at the Kenya National Theatre (KNT) when she was about to shoot her
movie In My Gene. The movie was about albinism so I was helping her
refine the concept,” he reveals.
He had loved Nyong’o
senior and his retinue of Young Turks as he grew up. “I asked Lupita to
introduce me to her father. The rest is history,” says the MP.
He will still vie for Deputy Secretary General in ODM when elections are ever called.
Any ambition? “I will be vying for a parliamentary seat in 2017,” he lets out.
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