Rising to the helm of a country's political arena is not an easy feat, but even more, maintaining your reputation while remaining a household name, is a whole other test.
A number of politicians have been offered lifelines into the ring but backed out, or rather, failed to up their game as required.
However, these leaders were first nominated into the house of representatives but went on to hold their ground and establish themselves as political household names.
President Uhuru Kenyatta
In November 2001, then-President Daniel Arap Moi nominated Uhuru Kenyatta to Parliament and appointed him to the cabinet, in an effort to rejuvenate Kanu's leadership before the forthcoming 2002 General Election.
In July 2002, President Moi announced that President Kenyatta was his preferred choice as Kanu's candidate for the presidential election.
Though he lost, Uhuru won the Gatundu South parliamentary seat, which he held till 2013 before his election as President of the Republic of Kenya.
Millie Odhiambo Mabona
The Suba North Member of Parliament debuted into the National Assembly as a nominated MP in 2008.
Labelled as controversial and outspoken, she was successfully elected MP for Suba North on an ODM ticket in the 2013 general election and has retained the seat since.
She is famed for her ability not to shy away from tackling matters however controversial. Cutting across from politics and day-to-day life.
Johnson Sakaja
Described by many as a sound political mind, Sakaja first served as a nominated Member of Parliament between 2013 and 2017, where he doubled as National chairman of The National Alliance before the formation of the Jubilee Party on September 9, 2016.
Inking his name into the political records, Sakaja was successfully elected as the second Senator for Nairobi following the 2017 General Election trouncing over ODM's Edwin Sifuna.
Te 34-year-old legislator has in the course of his career sponsored a number of bills that have been successfully ascended into law including a law that led to the establishment of the National Employment Authority.
Naisula Lesuuda
The Daystar University communications and community development graduate has become an epitome of success to young girls and Kenyans from her community and around the country.
For her support of President Kenyatta, she was nominated to the Senate by The National Alliance in 2013, upon which she became its youngest member at the time.
In 2016, the former KBC journalist made public her intentions to contend for the Samburu East parliamentary seat, however, this time on a Kanu ticket.
In against 2017, she dethroned Jonathan Lelelit to become the constituency's first-ever female representative at the National Assembly.
Rachel Shebesh
She goes down in history as Nairobi's first-ever Woman Representative duly elected during the 2013 general election in accord with the 2010 constitution.
Though she lost her seat to the incumbent, Esther Passaris, in January 2018, she was appointed as Chief Administrative Secretary for the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs by President Kenyatta.
However, her career in politics was bolstered by her nomination into the 10th parliament where she served between 2008 and 2013.
Shebesh is recognised as one of the most vocal women politicians in the country.
