From mali mali trader to majority leader: The Story of Kimani Ichung’wah

By Peter Ochieng

Kikuyu Member of Parliament and Majority Leader in the National Assembly Anthony Kimani Ichung’wah is currently in the ‘eye of a storm’ after claiming that former Trans Nzoia governor George Natembeya used to abduct, kill Kenyans and throw their bodies in River Yala, during retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s time in office.

The atrocities, the legislature claimed occurred during Natembeya’s time in office as Rift Valley Regional Commissioner. The governor has denied the allegations, adding that his track record as Rift Valley RC speaks for itself.

The Kikuyu MP was responding to the governor over the weekend, after the county boss ‘looked into President William Ruto’s eye’ and openly told him to stop abductions of those criticizing his administration.

There’s a likelihood that you – reading this knew of Ichung’wah for the first time when he was elected Kikuyu MP in 2013. Before successfully contesting for the Parliamentary seat, Ichung’wah – just like any other young Kenyan seeking to make ends meet, hustled ‘here and there’ including operating as a mali mali trader at his brothers shop in Nyamakima, Nairobi.

“I joined my brother in Nyamakima downtown on Duruma Road. We had a small shop there and I got into the business of selling mali mali. Eventually, my brother and his two Ugandan friends set up a small business selling safety shoes,” he told Daily Nation during an interview in 2020.

He is the second last born in a family of 12. His father was a businessman running a butchery, with the MP also later on operating his own butchery long before he was elected Member of Parliament.

The Alliance High School alumni is an accountant by profession, having studied at the Strathmore University from 1995 to 1999, alongside the Bachelor of Arts in Economics and History degree he gained from the University of Nairobi.

The mali mali selling job at Nyamakima makes part of his employment history. In early 2000s, he served as Cash/Management Account at Diverseylever East Africa Limited, before being appointed a Senior Accountant at Madison Insurance Company of Kenya Limited, a position he held from 2003 to 2006.

He then joined the Standard Group as a Group Senior Accountant for three years, leaving in 2009 to land at Safex Africa Limited as a Finance Director. He left the company in 2012, before being elected Member of Parliament in 2013.

Ichung’wah, one of President William Ruto’s strong allies within the Mt. Kenya region is serving his third term in the August House. Between 2017 and 2020, he served as the chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Appropriations.

Ichung’wah’s dream is to serve as Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Finance.