About Musalia Mudavadi

Musalia Mudavadi was born on the 21st of September 1960 in Sabatia, Vihinga District. Growing up, he was raised mostly in Nairobi as that is where the education he so eagerly seeked, was.

His educational background began at Kileleshwa Nursery School where he graduated and moved to Nairobi Primary School afterwards. Upon passing primary school, Musalia continued at the same school's secondary division to complete his secondary education.

Musalia unhesitantly joined university soon after and graduated from the University of Nairobi with a Bachelor of Science in Land Economics in 1984. Upon graduating, he moved straight into employement.

Musalia Mudavadi's political career began in 1989 when he was elected Member of Parliament for Sabatia Constituency and subsequently appointed Minister for Supplies and Marketing. It was quite a remarkable feat to run for office for the first time and head straight into a ministry.

Four years later in 1993, he retained his seat and was then appointed Minister of Finance. Mudavadi then went on to serve as Minister for Information, Transport and Communication from 1999-2000 followed by Minister of Transport and Communication from 2000-2002. He had a short stint as Vice President of the Republic of Kenya in 2002.

Currently he holds the post of Deputy Prime Minister for the Republic of Kenya. He has also previously served with the National Housing Corpotation (1984-1985) and been a director of Tysons Limited.

Proudest Achievements Member- Kenya National Dialogue & Reconciliation Team Leader in 2008 (Kofi Annan lead reconciliation team) Patron- Kenya Rubgy Football Union (KRFUEA) Patron - Vihiga Cultural Festival Patron - Sabatia Eye Hospital Chairman – Board of Governors – African Development Bank (ADB) Group Member – World Bank Board of Governors Member – Kenya Parliamentary Committee on the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission 1998

Musalia Wycliffe Mudavadi was born on September 20, 1960, in Baringo District (now Baringo County). He is the first born son and fifth child of the late Moses Budamba Mudavadi and Hannah Atsianzale Mudavadi. His late father Moses Budamba Mudavadi (1923 – 1989) was himself a politician who passed on whilst serving as the Minister for Local Government in the then President Daniel Arap Moi’s government and Member of Parliament for Sabatia constituency). Mama Hannah Mudavadi is a homemaker in her own right, having brought up seven children.

Background

Hon. Musalia Mudavadi’s rural (ancestral) home is Mululu Village Busali East Location in Sabatia District within Vihiga County. Hon. Musalia Mudavadi’s Sabatia Constituency is one of the four constituencies that make up the County of Vihiga, the other districts being Hamisi, Emuhaya and Vihiga. He hails from the Vakevembe clan of the Luhya sub-tribe of the Maragoli.

Musalia began his childhood education at Kileleshwa Nursery School Nairobi before joining Nairobi Primary School (1967 - 1973) where he completed his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education. He proceeded to Nairobi School (1974 - 1979) where he attained his Kenya Ordinary and Advanced Level Certificates of Education. He graduated from the University of Nairobi with a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Land Economics in 1984. Throughout his school days he memorably blended academics and sports with a passion for football and rugby. Whilst at the University he played for the Mean Machine RFC where he picked up the pet name “Phantom” for his speed and skill (skills his two sons have since picked up).

Upon graduation, he worked at the National Housing Corporation, a Government parastatal, before joining the local and established real estate firm of Tysons Limited. The young Mudavadi left the firm to make his debut in politics upon the death of his father in February 1989.

In 1990 Musalia married Tessie Shangatta Mullama at Friends Church Chamakanga in Sabatia constituency. Tessie is the fifth child of the late Alponse Shibelenje Mullama (1932 - 2012) and the late Juliana Khatembukhana Mullama (1937 – 2007). Musalia and Tessie have three children, two sons Moses and Michael and a daughter Maryanne.

Musalia professes the Christian faith and is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) Church. He has immensely contributed to the infrastructure of the church having conducted fund raisings for the various church branches all over the Republic.

Political Life

(1989)

Musalia was prevailed upon by the leadership of Sabatia to take up the political mantle and continue with his fathers’ legacy by representing them in Parliament on a Kenya African National Party (KANU) ticket. He thereupon took up the challenge and completed the development projects that his late father had began before embarking on new projects. Subsequently, at the young age of 29 years, he was elected unopposed as the member of Parliament for the then Vihiga constituency in a by-election held in April 1989. On being elected, President Moi (Rtd) appointed him as the Minister for Supplies and Marketing. This would signal the start of a long, sometimes bumpy, but generally illustrious political career for young Mudavadi.

(1992 - 2002)

After the 1992 General Elections Musalia was appointed to the critical portfolio of Minister for Finance where he served for an uninterrupted five year term. Thereafter he served as Minister in the Ministries of Agriculture; Information Transport & Communication and Transport & Communication. In 2002, he added a feather in his cap as Vice President of the Republic of Kenya. He served in these different ministerial portfolios whilst serving as the Member of Parliament for Sabatia, previously known as Vihiga.

Towards the 2002 general elections, the political mood in the country was such that it was agitating for change of political leadership and government. Political leadership and government were closely entwined then. This agitation for political change was due to the fact that constitutionally the (then) President Moi could not offer his candidature for presidency. A political wave swept the country against the ruling party KANU. Consequently, it brought into government and leadership the National Alliance of Rainbow Coalition (NARC). With the political wave and agitation for change, Musalia amongst other KANU faithfuls unfortunately lost the Sabatia parliamentary seat to a NARC party candidate.

Musalia was offered a direct nomination to Parliament as a nominated Member of Parliament under the party KANU, a position he politely declined. He stated, “The people of Sabatia made an informed decision to have another representative other than myself. I therefore cannot accept to go to Parliament through any other avenue as it would be a slap in the electorals face.”

(2002 -2012)

Musalia kept a relatively low political profile focusing on his businesses and taking up golf as a pastime. He left the former ruling party KANU in November 2003 and joined the Liberal Party of Kenya (LDP) which was at that time a very popular party in the western part of the country.

In 2005 when the constitutional referendum was held, Musalia played a major role in campaigning against the proposed constitutional change under the umbrella of the “Orange” “NO” team. The “Orange” “NO” team carried the day and eventually morphed into a political party, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). The “orange” was the symbol chosen by the Electoral Commission for the group opposing the change and the “banana” symbolized the “YES” advocates for constitutional change.

It was on this party - ODM - that Musalia stood in the 2007 General Elections, making a resounding and triumphant political comeback. He had put in his bid to be the party’s presidential flag bearer together with other party contestants namely Mr Raila Odinga, Mr William Ruto and Mr Joe Nyagah. Musalia came in second to Odinga amidst highly contested primaries, thus becoming the party’s running mate to the party’s presidential candidat, Hon. Raila Odinga. Having been re-elected to represent Sabatia Constituency, Musalia was subsequently appointed the Deputy Prime Minister of The Republic of Kenya and Minister for Local Government.

The 2007 election was highly disputed between the supporters of the Orange Democratic Party (ODM) and those of the Party of National Unity (PNU) under incumbent President Mwai Kibaki. This resulted in post election violence. In the ensuing events, death and displacement of many Kenyans occurred. This upheaval caused consternation in Africa and the world as a whole as Kenya is strategically placed not only as an economic hub but it also plays host to several international governmental and non-governmental bodies. President Kibaki finally sought the intervention of the African Union and a panel - The Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation - composed of eminent persons led by His Excellency Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary General was formed to broker peace between the parties. The other members of the panel comprised His Excellency Benjamin Mkapa, former President of the Republic of Tanzania; and Her Excellency Gracia Mandela, former first lady of South Africa. Musalai Mudavadi played a key role in these peace negotiation talks and was picked by his party to lead it through the peace and reconciliation negotiations. Other party members picked were Hon James Orengo, Hon Sally Kosgei and Hon William Ruto.

What transpired within the negotiations clearly brought out a characteristic of Mudavadi not seen earlier by many – a firm, and skillful negotiator. These peace negotiations placed him at international level.

At the national level (and at the height of the 2007 election) Musalia has laid emphasis on national unity and peaceful co-existence. This was manifested by the several trips he made around the country addressing rallies on the need for reconciliation following the 2007 post-election violence. One incident captured by media was in the particularly volatile area of Kibera area within Nairobi city. Mudavadi addressed the agitated marauding youth urging them to settle down and allow the leaders to handle the volatile situation so as to find a lasting solution. In the Western part of the country where Mudavadi hails from, he was in constant contact with the local leaders and the security teams to ensure that mayhem did not break out. To date as non-governmental organisations are making efforts in peace building and reconciliation, the Western region remains relatively free of peace building teams.

Political Beliefs and Economic Policies

Musalia Mudavadis’ strong yet salient personality has sustained him throughout the capricious political times. He is a servant leader who respects the rule of law. He has been candid and honest with his people. In case of mistakes he has always acknowledged them. He is by and large a pragmatic politician. His patience and tolerance knows no bounds. He is passionately persistent on the rule of law being followed. These are some of the qualities that have made him a long serving Member of Parliament as well as Cabinet Minister in Kenya.

Today Mudavadi is a colossus in Kenya’s national politics. His track record both at the national and constituency levels demonstrates Mudavadi’s leadership mettle.

Since he entered politics, Mudavadi has cut for himself a special niche as a pragmatic and development-oriented leader. At the national level he has left indelible footprints in each and every ministry he has served.

One of Mudavadi’s memorable statements is “…there is no dignity in being poor…” a phrase he used during his presidential bid in 2007 and carries to date as his slogan. This statement speaks volumes about his political beliefs and economic policies – equitable distribution of resources and gender equality. His priorities have been on good governance and poverty alleviation. To this end he has emphasised on the creation of an enabling economic environment to achieve the poverty reduction goals. In addition, Mudavadi places special attention on the challenge of youth and unemployment. The economic policies he espouses are also intended to formulate ctrategies to create employment for the youth who form a critical mass in the country.

Mudavadi also states, “If Kenya is to decisively deal with its economic problems then we have to embrace a culture of merit, transparency and accountability.” Merit he believe,s should be the determinant of anyone’s role in the society.

He notes: “Part of Kenya’s problems, lies in the vice of corruption. We need to deal forcefully and decisively with the problem of corruption. To achieve this we need to revisit some of the laws and institutions that deal with corruption. Our judiciary needs to be restructured. And above all we need to go on a vibrant awareness campaign on the issue of corruption. Security is another problem. The government is mandated to create a secure environment for the people of Kenya. This means that more law enforcement agents have to be recruited to attain the internationally accepted ratio of one police officer for 450 citizens. All the security agencies have to be well-funded. These security agencies have to undergo enhanced training.” (Excerpts from an interview held with Mudavadi in 2002 carried in his campaign manifesto in 2007). Many of Musalia’s views and beliefs have come to pass with the signing into law of the new Constitution in August 2010. He is indeed a visionary leader.

At the constituency leve,l his areas of focus on development matters have favoured poverty alleviation activities and economic investment programs through improvement of education (expansion and establishment of schools), provision of health facilities, roads infrastructural network, water-resource areas and electricity supply. Even more telling is his appreciation of the constituency development fund well before the term “CDF” got into the public domain. 
(see www.mudavadimemeorialfoundation.com)

At both the international and local levels, Musalia has been a great proponent of promoting investment partnerships for both job creation and general development.

This philosophy is vividly captured in his visionary book, ‘Rethinking Development in Africa in the 21st Century.’

Other Portfolios

Musalia Mudavadi announced his candidacy for the position of the President of the Republic of Kenya on the 21st of April, 2012 and welcomed anyone who wished to join him in his bid.

Musalia Mudavadi is an Inquisitive, Knowledgable, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Tolerant, Risk-Taking, Balanced and Reflective Individual.
This famous quote guides him to retaining all the above mentioned qualities: "Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I

cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference."
Reinhold Niebuhr

Personal Life
Musalia Mudavadi is married to Tessie Shangatti Mudavadi and has three children with her (two boys and a girl).
Other Activities
Musalia Mudavadi is also the patron of the Kenya Rubgy Football Union (KRFUEA), the Vihiga Cultural Festival and the Sabatia Eye Hospital
Musalia Mudavadi enjoys Football, Rugby and Golf

Catch me on:
facebook.com/MusaliaMudavadi
twitter.com/MusaliaMudavadi
info@musaliamudavadi.com
and lets have a chat.