After 12 years living in the United States, Mary Muthoni Wachira has returned to Kenya hoping to bring the expertise she has gained in the US to change the lives of her people in Tetu Constituency.
Mary Muthoni, who heads the Kenya Diaspora Forum, believes Tetu needs her leadership, she is vying for MP on a PNU ticket
“I first travelled to the United States to find out why businesses were failing in Kenya. What is in the US that is not in Kenya? What can be done for every family to take every child to school without struggle? Do we have to leave the country to make it?”
Income generation
Improving business and agricultural production are some of the areas she promises to transform using the knowledge she has gained in the US and other parts of the world. Muthoni has extensive work experience in Kenya and the US spanning media, banking, business and health sectors.
In her business endeavours, she was a frequent flyer in China, Hong Kong, the Middle East and the Far East, where she has learnt many business lessons. To date, Muthoni runs businesses in Kenya.
Her job abroad of taking care of a governor’s wife in Washington for five years, before working for another governor and later on for a senator, has improved her understanding of how to deal with many problems.
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“I have learnt from the best in a country where systems work, where you cannot fight, cheat or remove the system. If you are removed from the system, be it for a driving offence or credit, you have to work very hard to get back into the system. Here, people manipulate the system or remove the system because corruption is widespread.”
This and her vision for Tetu are some of the positive experiences she wants to instil in residents. She says her entry into politics is to help improve the wellbeing of the people. She plans to advance education in the constituency by providing scholarships, build a first-world library and provide free internet for children to be connected to the tools they need to access quality education.
Healthcare
Another big area she is focusing on is the health needs of residents. Top of her agenda is establishing a chronic diseases centre that will address many underlying diseases that afflict locals.
“There is no level 3, or even 4, hospital in Tetu. We have dispensaries. In fact, we had areas where Covid-19 cases were high because of the underlying conditions that many people suffer from.”
In this regard, she has plans to start a dialysis centre and improve access to hospitals to enable residents to undertake check-up and timely diagnosis and treatment.
“I am in the health sector in the United States and I am able to mobilise volunteers to help set up a quality healthcare system and provide and expand access to affordable and quality healthcare.”
Wachira holds a diploma in marketing, a nursing degree from a community college in the US, and a degree in business management. She has undertaken a series of courses in mental health and psychology.
“There is a lot of money in the United States and no one is asking for it, these are resources that can help transform our societies.”
Expertise
She says the America of today is not the one of yesterday when immigrants could only be janitors. Today, Kenyans are working as engineers at Boeing and others in Microsoft and leading hospitals. Muthoni wants the country to tap into the knowledge of people like her and others.
“We need to stop looking at the dollars they are remitting and focus on the intellectual resources they have to offer with their experience of having worked in most advanced, efficient systems in the world. The diaspora population is more than four million, brilliant minds with a lot to offer, but they do not know where to start.”
Healthcare
Another big area she is focusing on is the health needs of residents. Top of her agenda is establishing a chronic diseases centre that will address many underlying diseases that afflict locals.
“There is no level 3, or even 4, hospital in Tetu. We have dispensaries. In fact, we had areas where Covid-19 cases were high because of the underlying conditions that many people suffer from.”
In this regard, she has plans to start a dialysis centre and improve access to hospitals to enable residents to undertake check-up and timely diagnosis and treatment.
“I am in the health sector in the United States and I am able to mobilise volunteers to help set up a quality healthcare system and provide and expand access to affordable and quality healthcare.”
Wachira holds a diploma in marketing, a nursing degree from a community college in the US, and a degree in business management. She has undertaken a series of courses in mental health and psychology.
“There is a lot of money in the United States and no one is asking for it, these are resources that can help transform our societies.”
Expertise
She says the America of today is not the one of yesterday when immigrants could only be janitors. Today, Kenyans are working as engineers at Boeing and others in Microsoft and leading hospitals. Muthoni wants the country to tap into the knowledge of people like her and others.
“We need to stop looking at the dollars they are remitting and focus on the intellectual resources they have to offer with their experience of having worked in most advanced, efficient systems in the world. The diaspora population is more than four million, brilliant minds with a lot to offer, but they do not know where to start.”
By JOYCE CHIMBI
Source-https://nation.africa/
https://diasporamessenger.com/2012/06/cry-of-a-victim-of-a-marriage-from-hell/
Mary Muthoni Wachira: Kenyan Diaspora who returned to Vie for MP Seat
