This Is My First Mission As Thika MP - Wainaina Wa Jungle.

Thika Town Parliamentary aspirant Eng. Patrick Wainaina (Wa Jungle) who has promised to revolutionise the Thika economy once elected MP come August 8 2017. 

As the country approaches the next General Elections, Thika Town Parliamentary aspirant Eng. Patrick Wainaina (Wa Jungle) has promised to revolutionise the town’s economy through initiating legislations that would rethink Kenya’s trade deals with other countries using ‘negotiators’ whose goal will be to win for Kenyans.

Wainaina, who is a renowned businessman in the area said that, if elected MP, his first mission would be move a motion in Parliament that would ban importation of domestic and farm produce that were available locally in order to protect small-scale entrepreneurship and agro-business in the country.

“How do you explain Kenya importing oranges and eggs from South Africa while our farmers are languishing in poverty for lack of market for the same? When you import such products, you create about 20,000 jobs in South Africa. The same applies when we import toothpicks and wheelbarrows from China. We simply kill our Jua Kali sector while creating jobs for the Chinese,” said Wainaina during a live interview in a local TV Station.

The aspirant reckoned that all the town (and the country) needed were leaders to guide the people into self-empowerment. He added that this country would only develop if leaders evolved from politics of empty rhetoric to the politics of wealth creation.

“Our biggest challenge as a country is that majority of those who vie for elective positions do so without any clue of what such positions entail or basically to enrich themselves. This trend results in poor representation where mwananchi keeps languishing in poverty without anyone assisting them to come up with solutions to their challenges,” said Wa Jungle.

He said that his administration would partner with local companies to come up with a comprehensive and collaborative model of value chain addition with long-term objectives to address the economic challenges facing the people in the region. 

Value chain economy.

In this kind of arrangement, Wainaina plans to involve manufacturing companies in value creation chains where they would be acquiring the raw materials they need directly from the local farmers. That way, farmers would avail the raw materials, thus create jobs for various cadres such as those working in the farms, warehouses, distributors and transporters who will ferry these products to the factories.

“I will encourage local manufacturers to adopt the model we use at Jungle Group of Companies where we partner with farmers who produce the raw materials for the companies. For instance, if a company like Del Monte involves local farmers to grow mangoes or oranges for their juices, this sector can create about 10,000 direct jobs for our people,” he said.

Do you underpay your workers?

When challenged to respond to how much his workers earned, Wainaina said that his company strictly adhered to the government labour policy concerning minimum wages for workers. He added that none of his 3,000+ employees fell below the government recommended wage of Ksh. 12,500 per month.

Otherwise, he asked those criticising manufacturers of poor remuneration of their employees to first understand the bureaucracy and the logistics of trade and balancing acts these entrepreneurs had to undergo to sustain those ventures.

“It is very easy for an outsider to criticise the amount of money an entrepreneur pays their workers but I wish they would be in a position to understand the headaches these entrepreneurs go through to satisfy their employees and suppliers and still sustain the company. Otherwise, our main problem as residents is never the wages but those who are out there without jobs. If we can create enough jobs for everyone, we can be lest assured that even the level of insecurity will decline,” he explained.

Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

Wainaina reckoned that he had the expertise to ultimately utilise CDF funds to the benefit of the people of Thika. He also added that he would complement this through his Jungle Foundation programme which had transformed the face of Thika since 2006.

Wainaina said that he would also pool resources to improve the constituency infrastructure with a view to create a 24-hour economy in Thika.

“What we have done with Jungle Foundation is so evident for everyone to see. With added resources from other stakeholders and the CDF, we will improve infrastructure in schools, trading centres and residential areas to create a 24-hour economy,” explained Wainaina.

He also said that his administration would digitise bursary allocation to all the needy students by creating a database that will automate their allocation to reduce cases of mischief and interruptions of learning in schools.

“We will create a block chain that will guarantee every needy student in our network automatically receive their bursary in time to avoid creating any inconveniences to the students, parents and the respective school heads.”