Voters in Tetu constituency, Nyeri County, do not re-elect members of Parliament, and not even the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate Prof Wangari Mathai was given a second chance.
It has produced some of the region’s most powerful and influential leaders, but in the past 34 years no MP has served more than one term.
The constituency was established in 1988.
It was hived off present-day Nyeri Town and stretches from the slopes of the Aberdares in the north all the way to the confluence of the rivers Gura and Sagana in the south.
It is divided into three zones – Muhoya, Thigingi (upper Tetu) and Aguthi (lower Tetu).
Its first MP was the late Nahashon Kanyi Waithaka. He was elected in 1988 on a Kanu ticket and went on to become one of the most powerful ministers in President Daniel Arap Moi’s government.
He served as information and broadcasting minister before moving to the ministry of internal security, where he served until 1992, when he was voted out and replaced by Joseph Gethenji, who won on a Democratic Party (DP) ticket.
Before joining politics, Mr Gethenji was director of personnel management in the first government of the late President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and served as a permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour in President Moi’s government.
In 1997, Paul Gikonyo Muya succeeded Mr Gethenji before Prof Mathai took over in 2002 on a Narc party ticket.
In 2004, Prof Maathai made history as the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.
She also served as an assistant minister for environment and natural resources in President Mwai Kibaki’s government between January 2003 and November 2005.
While this was a big feat, it was still not enough to get her re-elected in the 2007 polls – she lost the seat to businessman Francis Nyammo of the Party of National Unity (PNU).
Mr Nyammo went on to serve for the next five years before losing the seat in 2013 to The National Alliance’s (TNA) Ndung’u Gethenji in 2013.
Ndung’u Gethenji is the son of the constituency’s second MP, Mr Gethenji.
In the National Assembly, Mr Gethenji served as chairperson of the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee, and was a member of the Liaison Committee, among others.
He tried to break the jinx in 2017 but was beaten by Jubilee’s Wakili James Gichuhi.
This lack of stable leadership has been cited as the reason the constituency lags behind neighbouring Nyeri Town, Mukurwe-ini, Othaya and Karatina.
The question now is whether Mr Gichuhi, the laid-back MP, will hack it, break the jinx and get re-elected?
Two months ago, he decamped from Jubilee to Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA). That did not sit well with aspirants who had been with UDA since its formation, including Martin Luther King Githigaro, who moved to The Service Party (TSP).
Tetu has so far attracted 10 candidates, who have lined up to gain from the curse on the MP’s seat and dislodge the incumbent
These include former MP Gethenji and former minister Nahashon Kanyi’s widow, Ann Kanyi.
According to the 2017 election data from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Tetu has 51,716 registered voters at 108 polling stations.
Other aspirants include former Education and Sports chief officer Wachira Ngatia, founder and CEO of Bidii Credit Ltd Geoffrey Wandeto, 2017 aspirant Peter Kamuthu and Daniel Kimayo.
The race has also attracted more than three other female aspirants, including Ann Thumbi and Grace Ngandu.
Residents say the short tenures of MPs are one of the reasons for slow development as the leaders do not get enough time to implement projects.
Simon Maina, a resident, said he did not vote to re-elect some of the MPs because they did not meet his expectations.
“I do not feel like they earned my vote a second time. But I voted for Prof Maathai a second time because I felt that she was a good leader, but unfortunately most of the people did not feel the same,” he said.
Mr Njaramba Wanjii said it looked like residents were punishing their leaders hoping that the next one would be better than the last.
He maintained that unlike other areas like Othaya, which was under President Kibaki between 1974 and 2013, no MP in Tetu had been able to move past the planning phase.
“The first five years are about planning. The leader gets to understand what the people need and can then move to implement it,” he said.
“However, in Tetu, no leader had been able to move past the planning and when we elect another MP, they start planning again and the residents end up losing.”
He noted that the leaders alternate between upper and lower Tetu as if there is an agreement.
“It is like there is an unwritten rule that states the MPs must alternate between upper Tetu and lower Tetu. It is unwritten and it seems to work every other election,” he said.
Mr Wanjii called for stability, saying that voting out leaders every five years would not encourage development.
“It should be discouraged and residents should ensure a stable leadership so that we can also get development in our constituency,” he added.
It is, however, not all gloom as Tetu has produced some of the country’s best-known leaders. The most famous include the iconic leader of the Mau Mau, Dedan Kimathi and Prof Maathai. BY DAILY NATION