Following the March 2018 handshake, Jubilee party has been experiencing wrangles that have seen two unofficial factions created in the party. Kieleweke, for those who support President Uhuru Kenyatta and Tangatanga, for those who support the DP.
Among key allies of the DP is Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika who has been vocal in supporting him, emphasizing that the DP has been sidelined.
On Saturday, October 3, Kihika was trending on social media after she hurled unprintable insults on Jubilee secretary general Raphael Tuju after he announced that the DP had been banned from accessing the Jubilee party offices.
But who is Susan Kihika?
Kihika is the daughter of the late veteran politician Kihika Kimani, who served during late President Daniel Arap Moi's era as the Nakuru East MP.
The late Kihika had 41 children and in a six-page handwritten letter, he stated that Susan was his favourite. She was awarded 10 acres of land and described as a good girl.
“This is the girl I love the most. She did me good in America (sic),” reads the letter.
Going by her website, Kihika holds a Degree in Political Science and Government from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, USA. Additionally, she did a Jurist Doctorate Law Degree from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, USA.
After graduating, she was admitted to the Texas State Bar and later employed as a prosecutor for the state of Texas at the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.
She would soon rise to becoming the chief prosecutor and served for four years before she resigned and founded her law firm, Kihika Law Firm in Dallas.
After close to 20 years, Kihika came back to Kenya and tried her shot at the Bahati Parliamentary seat in 2012 but unfortunately, lost at the nomination stage.
In the same year, she would later vie for the Nakuru County Speaker's seat and trounced 12 opponents to clinch it.
Kihika worked in the capacity for five years before she vied for the Nakuru senator seat in the 2017 general elections where she won against her competitor, the late Karanja Kabage.
She rose to become the Senate Majority Whip but was ousted in May 2020, during the Jubilee party purge in a battle between the Tangatanga and Kieleweke factions.
Kihika, who has been a fierce critic of Nakuru governor Lee Kinyanjui's administration on October 1, 2020, vowed that she would be vying for the Nakuru gubernatorial seat come 2022.
"In the whole country, we had three female governors. But, after the demise of (Dr) Joyce Laboso, we now have two. In 2022, I want to join the league of women governors in Kenya.
"My people have been telling me to do so and I am listening to them. There is a very big chance that, yes, I will throw my hat in the ring," she declared.
