Political slogans and nicknames have been the order of the day during the campaign season leading up to the Tuesday, August 9 poll.
In Nyeri county, it is no different as the #Nowanguku slogan has gained momentum with both residents and non-residents who have heard the phrase in a popular campaign advert.
The catchphrase originated from Thuo Mathenge, a billionaire businessman who is vying for the Nyeri Gubernatorial seat on The New Democrats (TND) party ticket.
The slogan is synonymous with the politician for his business in poultry farming - as he is the founder of Brade Gate, a famous chicken enterprise located alongside the Marua-Nanyuki highway. Nguku is the Kikuyu word for chicken while Wanguku translates to the man who keeps chicken.
Through the brand, he also owns a resort, wheat mill, bakery, college, fast food outlets and a chicken slaughterhouse that reportedly handles over 20,000 birds on a daily basis.
The wealthy businessman will be throwing his hat in the ring for the third time after his subsequent quests to take the county's top seat were futile.
While narrating his upbringing and rise to fame and fortune on Kameme TV, Mathenge noted that his past moulded him into a success story.
Born and bred in Nyeri, Mathenge had a difficult upbringing as his parents were deemed outlaws by the colonial government over their involvement in the independence struggle.
At the time, his father was killed and his mother detained, leaving him with his grandmother and siblings.
"We were weak because our grandmother could not afford to give us three meals a day. At night, she gave us a sack to sleep in, and my siblings and I would share that sack. It was the bed, blanket and sheets," he stated.
According to Mathenge, he studied at Chinga Boys High school before earning a scholarship to study clinical medicine, which led him to set up clinical businesses in Nairobi and Kiambu counties.
Mbo-i-Kamiti
Seeking to find a foolproof method for success, Mathenge invested in a project dubbed Mbo-i-Kamiti that saw him bag millions while in Kiambu county. The company, founded in the 1980s, was involved in settling workers who had toiled on settler farms.
The tycoon's opportunity to rise to the helm of the company came in the 1990s when the rival directors' hatched a scheme to annihilate unruly accountants and lawyers in a bid to settle scores.
This did not sit well as six of the directors were killed in the process, leading to Mathenge taking over the company. Media reports indicated that Mathenge's leadership led to the acquisition of title deeds by members worth over Ksh7 billion.
Political Venture
His influence at the company was, however, used by his political opponents as a campaign tool in 2013 - claiming that Mathenge was an instigator and would cause trouble within the county. He garnered 48,892 votes in the 2013 polls, losing to the late Nderitu Gachagua.
In 2017, he was however disqualified by the Jubilee party to vie for the seat on claims that his degree certificate was invalid. Mathenge's attempt to vie as an independent was also denied after IEBC rejected his application.
