Why 2017 has been bittersweet for lawmaker Isaac Mwaura

The year 2017 was supposed to be very good for Nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura.

He had a lot of expectations both at the home front and in his career as a young lawmaker.

For one, he and his wife, Mukami Mwaura, were expecting not one, not two, but three children – triplets – whom the couple were publicly anticipating.

Also, Mr Mwaura would finally throw himself into the political deep end and vie for the Ruiru parliamentary seat.

But life can be full of surprises. 

ATTACK

Mr Mwaura lost his chances of being at the ballot at the nominations in an exercise which he terms as “not credible”.

A day before the primaries, he claimed that he was attacked by one of his opponents and sustained minor injuries that had him stay overnight at a city hospital.

He was, however, accused of stage-managing his own attack to attract sympathy from voters.

Some drew parallels to the 2014 shambolic ODM elections where “Men in Black” interrupted the party elections.

“My competitors used the melee at Kasarani to show that I was behind my own attack. Thank God I was not injured, but the idea was to ensure that I did not participate in the primaries,” he said, during an interview at the Senator’s Lounge in Parliament Buildings.

LOWEST MOMENT

Losing the primaries was perhaps the lowest moment in his life.

He became the object of ridicule, insults and name-calling.

A few jealous peers celebrated his loss and declared that he was politically “finished”.

What many did not know, was that Mr Mwaura was not only facing hardship in his political career, but also at home.

The triplets he and his wife were expecting were delivered safely albeit prematurely; and two (a boy and a girl) did not make it past the first few weeks after delivery.

The couple arrived at the hospital expecting three children, but left a few months later with one child and a hospital bill of Sh11.2 million.

TOUGH TIME

It was a tough time for the young couple who got married in June 2015.

Losing at election nominations and losing two children at around the same time was bound to take its toll on the new parents.

“We handled it through a lot of prayer. I know it sounds funny, coming from a politician, but we managed by keeping our faith,” he said.

The Mwaura's had kept it mum for months until on Monday when the senator, through an emotional Facebook post, narrated what he had just been through the last couple of months.

“The impossible has happened in the history of Kenya. That in one election in 2013, one is nominated by Raila Odinga via ODM in the National Assembly and in the next election in 2017, the same person is nominated by President Uhuru Kenyatta under a different party, Jubilee in the Senate…” reads the Facebook post in one part.

SPECIAL INTEREST

He will be sworn in tomorrow to represent the disabled and special interest groups in the Senate.

Top of his agenda will be an interesting cause for a male legislator. Mr Mwaura’s plan is to ensure that maternity leave for mothers is extended from three months to six months and from 14 days to one month for fathers.

He believes that he is uniquely qualified to push this agenda at the floor of the Senate because being a young dad, he believes he has a front-row seat to the challenges faced by new mothers and fathers.