Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria opened up about the reality check he received when he stepped into the National Assembly as a first time MP in 2014.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, Kuria stated that when he ascended into the Gatundu South parliamentary seat, he had high expectations that he could institute the change he had envisioned.
Kuria had been in Dubai where he was running a highly successful career in the banking sector before he jetted back in 2007 with a view to contributing his knowledge for the development of the country.
"When I went into parliament for the first time, I had very high expectations. I was hopeful and excited, but things did not go as I had expected they would," he stated.
Kuria stated that he found out that in the national assembly, there were too many members, a matter that he stated made it hard for him to be able to single-handedly institute the change he had promised his constituents.
He narrated that he also discovered that the role of the members of parliament was severely limited by the laws of the land, leaving them with the powers to only follow up on ideas that have already been enacted.
Apart from those blocks, he narrated that there was opposition coming from all corners which made it hard for any idea to go through without being shot down, a matter that forced him to rethink his strategy.
While he had promised to try his best to deliver on his mandate, he narrated that the blocks from these places it hard for him to make as much progress as he had hoped to in the house.
"There is so much opposition from around, but life is all about patience. You cannot have all you want. You have to make do with what you have," he sagely remarked.
Kuria was elected unopposed in August 2014, after the seat was declared vacant following the death of the area MP Jossy Ngugi who succumbed after collapsing at his Runda home, in May 2014.
His only challenger in the 2014 race, Kiarie Kamere, of the New Democrats Party pulled out in the last minute citing "deep respect" for President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“Gatundu South Constituency is the home of our beloved President Uhuru Kenyatta. I don’t wish to be the cause, or be associated with political divisions and unnecessary tensions in the President’s backyard,” Kamere was quoted by Capital FM at the time.
Kuria went ahead to be reelected in 2017, making him a two-term MP in a constituency that at different points represented governed by two presidents, Jomo Kenyatta, and Uhuru Kenyatta.
