He rattled the President with his controversial letter on BBI, which was seen as being disrespectful to the Head of State. The aftermath? The hammer descending hard on him during a heated Jubilee Party PG meeting at the KICC on Tuesday. A converging which saw him axed from the powerful Jubilee Majority Whip position.
Irungu Kangata, the soft-spoken Muranga Senator is a veteran politician in his own right, having first got into politics at the age of 22, while on suspension from the University of Nairobi.
When President Barack Obama visited Kenya in 2015 on his final term as the President of the United States, Kangata, the then MP for Kiharu organised demonstrations against the US President in the city, demanding he does not mention gay rights or the LGBTQ in his speech.
Before venturing into elective politics at the age of 22, Irungu Kangata was serving his three-year expulsion from the University of Nairobi. He was the institution’s Vice Chairman in 1999 and would be sent to suspension the following year for inciting and leading student riots. He would later pick up a DJ job to keep himself busy and he is known for his love for Reggae music.
He was born in 1980 in Murang’a county went to Muranga Township Primary School, before joining the Thika High School. Even though he would join the University of Nairobi to study Law, Irungu Kangata was suspended from the institution but went back in 2003 when Kibaki’s NARC administration took over and granted amnesty to all students suspended by President Moi.
He graduated from the institution in 2005 and proceeded to Kenya School of Law in 2006.
Senator Irungu Kangata was first elected as councilor for Central Ward in Murang’a in 2002. He would then be elected MP for Kiharu in 2013 after winning the TNA ticket. In 2017, the politician left tongues wagging when he declared his intention to run for the Muranga Senatorial seat, despite havoing said the Senate’s roles were duplicated.
Irungu Kangata vied for the Muranga senatorial seat which was being held by Kembi Gitura. This was a contradictory move considering the fact that he had previously demanded the senate be scrapped off, saying that it duplicated tasks of the National Assembly. Kangata won the election and is currently the Senator.
In May 2020, at the height of animosity between Uhuru and Ruto allies in Jubilee Party, Kangata replaced Susan Kihika as the Senator Majority Chief Whip for the Jubilee Party. On 9th February 2021, he was kicked from the same position and replaced by Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi.
