Kiraitu Murungi Biography
Kiraitu Murungi is the current serving Governor of Meru County in Central Kenya. He previously served as a Member of Parliament for South Imenti constituency and was the former Cabinet Minister and also served as Senator for Meru County.
Between 1977 and 1978 he studied at the Kenya School of Law. And graduated at the top of his class and won both the Best Law Student Prize and the Law Society of Kenya Prize for the best overall student in the class of 1978. Kiraitu Murungi taught as a lecturer at the Kenya School of Law between 1978 and 1980. In 1979, he took the Commonwealth Legal Drafting Course.
His areas of specialization include Constitutional Law, Human Rights, and Democracy. Kiraitu Murungi founded the law firm ‘Kamau Kuria, Kiraitu & Ringera Advocates’ in Nairobi in 1980. As a practicing lawyer, Kiraitu Murungi specialized in Constitutional Law, Commercial Law & Civil Litigation. He handled several high profile cases both in the High Court and Court of Appeal.
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- Age: 67 years old as of 2019
- Political Party: Jubilee Party
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Kiraitu Murungi Education
- Date: 1990
- Education Institution: Havard Law School, in Cambridge Massachusetts, USA
- Qualification: Masters of Law degree in Constitutional Law, Human Rights, and Democracy
- Date: 1980 – 1982
- Education Institution: University of Nairobi
- Qualification: Masters of Law degree (LL.M) in the Faculty of Law
- Date: 1974-1977
- Education Institution: University of Nairobi
- Qualification: Undergraduate Student (LLB)
- Date: 1972-1973
- Education Institution: Alliance High School
- Qualification: Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education
- Date: 1968-1971
- Education Institution: Chuka High School
- Qualification: Transferred
- Date: 1960-1967
- Education Institution: Kionyo Primary School
- Qualification: Kenya Certificate of Primary Education
Kiraitu Murungi Political Career
In 1992, Kiraitu Murungi was elected as the Member of Parliament for South Imenti, a position he held continuously for 20 years until he was elected as the Senator for Meru in March 2013. Kiraitu was one of the leading lights in the struggle to liberate Kenyans from decades of KANU’s one-party dictatorship.
He was instrumental in the formation and management of various political parties, including FORD, Ford-Kenya, Safina, Democratic Party, NARC, NARC-KENYA, Party of National Unity (PNU), Alliance Party of Kenya (APK).
In 1997, Kiraitu served as the chairman of the Inter Parties Parliamentary Group (IPPG) Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Administrative reforms which liberated Kenyans from decades of oppressive colonial laws such as the Chiefs Authority Act, Sedition and Detention without trial.
Kiraitu has vast experience in coalition building and was one of the key leaders who spearheaded President Kibaki’s re-election campaign in 2007 as well as National Constitutional Referendum campaigns in 2005 and 2010.
Kiraitu has been involved in various grass-roots development initiatives in Kenya. He is a founder/chair of the Centre for Governance and Development (CGD) (1994). In 1995, Kiraitu founded the Coffee and Tea Parliamentary Association (COTEPA) which played a crucial role in introducing major reforms in both tea and coffee sectors for the benefit of tea and coffee farmers.
As MP for South Imenti, Kiraitu formed the South Imenti Development Association (SIDA), SIFA-the South Imenti People’s Bank, SWODA-South Imenti Women Development Association, SYDP-South Imenti Youth Development Programme and the South Imenti Education Fund, as grassroots initiatives committed to empowering the people and uprooting the roots of poverty in South Imenti.
Between 2003 and 2005 Kiraitu served as a high profile Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs in the Kibaki government. As the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Kiraitu spearheaded comprehensive reforms in governance, justice, law and order sector through the Governance, Justice, Law and Order Sector (GJLOS) program.
He was instrumental in carrying out the “Radical Surgery” of the judiciary, re-established the Anti-Corruption Authority and spearheaded the Bomas Constitutional Conference. Between 2006 and 2013 Kiraitu served as Minister for Energy in the Grand Coalition government. As Minister for Energy, Kiraitu introduced major reforms in the Energy sector. He is celebrated for bringing electricity to the people, especially those in the rural areas, at an affordable cost.
He established the Rural Electrification Authority through which connected most markets, secondary schools, health centers, boreholes, and other public institutions in Kenya with electricity. Kiraitu also formed the Geothermal Development Company to intensify and accelerate geothermal electricity generation.
Kiraitu encouraged international oil companies to undertake oil and gas exploration in the country and it is through his leadership that oil, coal, and gas were discovered in Kenya. A detailed account of Kiraitu’s political experiences is contained in the Peter Kagwanja & Humphrey Ringera’s ‘Kiraitu Murungi An Odyssey in Kenyan Politics’. Kenway publications Nairobi 2012.
In the 2013 general election, he won the senatorial seat to be the Meru senator. Later in the 2017 general election, he vied for the gubernatorial seat where he won with majority votes beating the incumbent governor Peter Munya to become the new governor-elect of Meru county.
Kiraitu Murungi Age|Birthday
Murungi was born on January 1, 1952, in Kenya. He celebrates his birthday on January 1st every year.
Kiraitu Murungi Family
After doing our research, details about his parents are not available and it is also not known if he has any siblings.
Kiraitu Murungi Wife
Kiraitu Murungi is married to Priscilla K. Murungi
Kiraitu Murungi Children
Kiraitu Murungi is a staunch family man who is married to Priscilla K. Murungi and is the father to Nkatha, Mwenda, Makena and Anita Murungi.
Kiraitu Murungi Salary
According to our reliable source, governors in Kenya earn a monthly basic salary of Kshs. 924.000 and a number of allowances thus pushing their gross salaries to over a million shillings.
Kiraitu Murungi Net Worth
Working as the current serving Governor of Meru County in Central Kenya, there is no doubt Kiraitu earns a good salary and has been able to accumulate good net worth. However, his exact net worth has not yet been revealed but the information will be updated as soon as it is available.
10 Interesting Facts about Senator Kiraitu Murungi
- He is a big fun of Rhumba music.
- He works out twice a week in the gym.
- He loves poetry and has authored a couple of poetic books.
- His childhood name was Tito Ikunda later renamed Kiraitu Murungi.
- He was born in the new year on the 1st of January.
- He is a staunch family man who is married to Priscilla Murungi and together they have four children.
- Apart from making South Imenti the most developed constituency in Kenya during his tenure as M.P, he also donated 500 hectares of his land at Mitunguu to hundreds of squatters from the neighboring Tharaka constituency. This was meant to promote peaceful coexistence between Tharaka and South Imenti constituencies.
- He once served as the shadow Attorney General of Kenya.
- He is a graduate of Harvard University where he studied with Barack Obama as his classmate when they were doing their masters in Law.
- His greatest achievements as Energy Minister was the discovery of oil in Turkana County and starting the rural electrification program which saw Kenya’s rural areas get connected to electricity.
Kiraitu Murungi Political Positions
Current Political Positions
Started 11th March 2013: Senator for Meru of CountyStarted 8th February 2013: Member of Alliance Party of Kenya (APK)
Started January 2013: Party leader of Alliance Party of Kenya (APK)Previous Political Positions
2008 → 4th March 2013: Member of Parliament for South Imenti2008 → January 2013: Cabinet Minister of Energy
2007 → January 2013: Member of Party of National Unity2007 – 2013: Member of Parliament for South Imenti
2006 → 2007: Cabinet Minister of Energy1992 → 2006: Member of Forum For The Restoration Of Democracy
2003 → 2005: Cabinet Minister Of Justice & Constitutional Affairs2002 – 2007: Member of Parliament for South Imenti
1998 → 2002: Member of Parliament for South Imenti1992 → 1997: Member of Parliament for South Imenti
Frequently Asked Questions About Kiraitu Murungi
Who is Kiraitu?
Murungi is the current serving Governor of Meru County in Central Kenya
How old is Kiraitu?
Murungi is 67 years old as of 2019. He was born in 1952
Is Kiraitu married?
Murungi is married to his lovely wife Priscilla K. Murungi.
Kiraitu Salary?
Information not available
How much is Kiraitu net worth?
Information not available
Where does Kiraitu live?
Murungi lives in Nairobi Kenya
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