KENYAN COUNCILLOR IN UK

She might have loved her teaching career in Kenya but what of its low income? Former primary school teacher in Githunguri Township Primary once decided to look for greener pastures in the UK and at some point thought of changing the career, altogether.

Elizabeth Wanjiru Kang’ethe ventured into politics and soon her dream was to be fulfilled with a heftier package. She is now the proud councillor of Parsloe Ward, Barking and Dagenham where she was elected on a Labour Party ticket.
Elizabeth Wanjiru is congratulated after emerging winner of the civic seat for Parsloe Ward, Barking and Dagenham. Photos: Peter Kiruthi/Courtesy


The Kenyan born former school head teacher has won the seat in the just-concluded UK General Election, in a constituency where the leader of the extreme right party British National Party (BNP) Nick Griffith unsuccessfully contested for a parliamentary seat.

When we met Kang’ethe, she was in high spirits as she thanked all Kenyans both at home country and abroad who supported her candidacy during the campaigns. Until her election, she was a teacher in the UK and a scout leader.

Kang’ethe said that she was on her way to the airport to pick up her sister whom she said had come for the celebration.

Kang’ethe, who has been campaigning for the Labour Party for five years, describes the presence of BNP in Barking and Dagenham as a blessing in disguise.

"Their racist campaigns triggered almost every black person in the constituency to vote against it. Nobody would have liked to be dominated by BNP and for the first time voter turnout was very high," she says.

Intolerance

Kang’ethe says a Kenyan-born Pastor James Gitau support of BNP angered black people and triggered them to dislike the party. The extreme right party has not won any seat countrywide.

Griffith was silenced by the loss of the only seat that would have given him a stronghold. He had vowed to make Barking and Dagenham intolerant to immigrants.

He was reported saying those who believed in diversity should never live in the constituency. Labour MP Margaret Hodge won the hotly contested seat.

Kang’ethe was one of the three Kenyans, residing in the UK, who participated in the elections. The others are Juliet Makhapila who unsuccessfully vied for a civic seat in Islington ward, Tollington on a Liberal Democrat ticket, and the Reverend Geoffrey Macharia who contested and lost the parliamentary seat in Stratham constituency, London on a Christian Party ticket.

Pastor Gitau made history in the UK when he become the first black man to join BNP but later defected the party to join the Christian Party.

He, however, failed to secure the Croydon Central parliamentary seat on the latter party ticked.

A conservative candidate scooped the seat with 19,657 votes while he got only 264 votes.

Marianne Alapini, a councillor for many years in Kensington and Chelsea borough, had hunted for a Labour Party safe parliamentary seat in May 2009.

Malpractices

She was prepared to vie for a parliamentary seat in Woking before she changed her mind to seek the Labour Party safe seat in Erith and Thamesmead following the retirement of the area MP John Austin.

However, UK media reported malpractices in the nomination process.

The area had a huge number of ethnic minorities, but there were charges that the labour party elites spend a lot of money to bribe the voters in favour of Georgia Gould whose father is Lord. Marianne has kept a low profile since.