NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 16 — Until her nomination to deputize Roots Party presidential candidate George Wakackoyah, little was known about Justina Wambui Wamae.
The Kibra-born 35-year-old shot to the limelight when Wajackoyah picked her as running mate and consequently dominated social media discourse during the launch of Roots Party’s manifesto on June 30 when she’d be heard incessantly chanting ‘Tingiza Miti’, the party’s campaign slogan.
Before then, those within her circles knew her as a senior manager in a construction company based in Utawala and a managing director of Finpro Association Limited, an organization seeking to empower youth-owned businesses.
But who exactly is Wamae and how did she scale up to contest for a key position in national politics?
Wamae hails from a humble background having been born and raised in Kibra slums, the largest slum in Africa. A first born in a family of three, Wamae, and her two siblings knew the slum as their home before the 2007 post-election violence forced to flee the slum.
Her family would then relocate and settle in Syokimau which became their new home.
Her education journey started at Kilimani Primary School after which she then proceeded to Limuru Girls High School for secondary education between 2002 and 2005.
Wamae then joined Daystar University, graduating in 2010 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Information Systems.
In 2012, she graduated with a Diploma in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management from Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supplies in the UK.
Two years later, she graduated with a Master’s Degree in Purchasing and Logistics from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).
For Wamae, this is not the first stab at political office in the country, she has previously attempted to woo voters in Mavoko constituency but she lost the seat to Wiper’s Patrick Makau.
The businesswoman-cum-politician had sought Jubilee Party ticket to run for the seat having played a substantial role in the party by leading the “Warembo na Uhuru” lobby in the larger Machakos County, which sought to marshal female voters behind President Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential bid.
Wamae however failed to clinch the Jubilee’s Party ticket after she was floored during nominations. Undeterred, she decided to vie for the seat on an independent ticket but still failed to clinch the parliamentary slot.
Soon after, she was married to Alex Kanyi whom she met in 2017 during the campaigns. The couple are raising a 3-year-old daughter.
The interesting journey of her political life is how she teamed up with Wajackoyah in the 2022 State House race.
Wamae has previously disclosed that prior to her unveiling on May 5, she had never met the Roots Party Presidential candidate.
Just like a job application, her Curriculum Vitae and experience propelled her to the slot. Wamae had sought to be appointed Principal Secretary Position after the elections in 2017 without success.
“Roots circulated an advert, they were looking for a running mate. I sent in my Curriculum Vitae (CV) the same one I used to apply for the Principal Secretary position after the elections in 2017. We were called for an interview and they insisted if I’m married, I come with my spouse,” she recalled in a recent media interview.
“The selection panel was headed by a retired judge. After the interview, I left just like the other candidates and later on I received a communication from Roots Party indicating that I was successful,” Wambui narrated.
Since then, Wamae has been traversing the nation with Wajackoyah popularizing the party’s agenda to legalize marijuana for medical use, commercial snake farming and a pledge to scale up the anti-corruption war by “hanging the corrupt”.
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