MACHEL WAIKENDA: Could he be the next Kiambu Governor? By Muthuri Ungi Waikenda was born in Nairobi, on 23 April 1981 and he has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Florida. “I graduated with a Commercial Pilots License at about the same time that I was getting my engineering degree.” He says, “My father only paid for one semester and after that, he told me I was on my own.” While a lot of people would be stressed out by such actions from their parents, Waikenda says, “That was the best thing that he did for me as it taught me how to hustle.” And what was his first job? He was cleaning bathrooms for a grocery store adding that this is where he rose up the ranks to become an assistant manager. “I also worked as a telemarketing officer, hospital administrator and a math and physics tutor,” he says. He is also a man of many achievements, in the process of studying for his engineering course he also did some other things on the side. “I decide to take electrical engineering although in the process I developed interest in flying which saw me take lesson in a local flying school,” Waikenda says. “I footed the tuition fees for both my degree and flying classes. Later I started a curio business where I would get the products from Maasai market and sell them abroad,” adds Waikenda. Waikenda has been the founder of the Jubilee Coalition Dunda campaign. Through media, he advocated, the proposed government’s framework to allocate 2.5 per cent of the GDP annually to establish a Youth Enterprise Capital Fund for youth access interest-free and government’s announcement for allocation of 30% of its procurement tenders to young entrepreneurs. He is also the board member of the World Youth Parliament. “I always knew I would get into leadership and worked tirelessly towards that end by trying as much as I could to leave positive mark into young people’s lives,” Waikenda continues to say. He is currently a county Executive in Charge of Youth Affairs and Sports in Kiambu County talks of his greatest achievement. His parting shot? “Being able to work through university, pay my bills and fees while working through two to three jobs was a major achievement.” Currently, he is completing his doctorate in business administration at the University of Phoenix. Do you think he is on the line up to be the next Kiambu Governor?
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 06:18:59 +0000
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