Irungu Kang'ata

Irungu Kang'ata is a Kenyan politician.

He is the governor of Muranga County.

He also is the former senator of Murang'a County, and the former Senate of Kenya Majority Chief Whip, former member of parliament for Kiharu Constituency and a former Councillor for Central Ward in Murang'a town.

He is a law graduate from the University of Nairobi and a principal in the firm Irungu Kangata & Co. Advocates located at Flamingo Towers 4th floor, Upperhill, Nairobi.

He holds PhD (Law) University of Nairobi and teaches law at Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi.

Kang'ata was born in 1980 in Murang'a town[ Muranga County].

He attended Murang'a Township Primary School (now Vidhu Ramji Primary School) between 1986 and 1993.

He was admitted to Thika High School in 1994, where in 1997 he qualified for admission to the University of Nairobi for a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) degree.

He was among the top students.

In 1999 at the age of 19, he was elected Vice Chair of Kenya Law Student Society and later in the same year elected the Vice Chairman of entire University students body called SONU.

Together with other students, he was suspended in 2000 for two years (but which term turned indefinite after he sued the university) for leading a strike.

In 2002, at the age of 22,Kang'ata made history when he was elected as a Councillor for Central Ward in Murang'a Municipal Council.

He chaired Murang'a Municipal Council Town planning Committee, and he helped recover grabbed public land from powerful persons, including Mumbi stadium.

He represented the council in Muranga District Education Board.

He rejoined campus in 2003 after the new NARC regime granted amnesty to former suspended students, and graduated in 2005.

In 2006, he joined the Kenya School of Law for his diploma in law.

He earned a Master of Laws (LL.M) and PhD degrees from University of Nairobi.

Kang'ata runs a law firm called Irungu Kangata & Company Advocates that specializes in corporate law.

The firm is located next to the British Embassy at Flamingo Towers, 4th Floor, Upperhill, Nairobi.

In 2007, he was admitted to the bar.

After being employed by various advocates, he was employed as a state counsel in the Attorney General's chambers in 2009.

He left soon thereafter to establish his law firm.

In 2012, Kang'ata became famous nationally after he defended Rebecca Kerubo, a security guard who was allegedly assaulted by the deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza.

Following an inquiry, the deputy Chief Justice resigned nine months after the accusations.

In 2013, Kang'ata contested for the Kiharu parliamentary seat on a TNA ticket, which he won after receiving 63,148 votes and defeating nine rivals.

The TNA party was later merged with the URP to form the Jubilee Party of Kenya, which was then led by Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, as party leader and deputy party leader respectively.

In 2015, Kang'ata fired three members of the local CDF committee over what he termed as misappropriation of funds meant for bursaries.

In 2015, Kang'ata was nominated for the Mzalendo Trust People's Shujaaz Award, given to lawmakers who championed issues of public interest in both the National Assembly and the Senate.

Kang'ata was nominated for sponsoring the Higher Education Loans Board (Amendment) Bill, which was however rejected by the President.

The bill would have barred HELB from penalizing debtors who were yet to get jobs and had filed affidavits proving that they were unemployed.

In the same year, Kang'ata was also awarded by Central Kenya Forum for Peace for best management of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and investing in domestic water projects.

The report by the Forum revealed that Kang'ata had invested more than Ksh.42 million.

As Senator, acting on the recommendation of Senate, the President Uhuru Kenyatta awarded him the highest state honour of Chief of Burning Spear.

Reasons cited included his public philanthropic causes of medical camps in his home county;his legislative record including introducing Ward Development Fund Bill and his long untainted political career.

(around US$41,000) in the domestic projects.

Kang'ata is a strong Christian who champions key Christian causes.

Kang'ata is probably one of the modest politicians in Kenya.

In February 2016, he called for the overhaul of the Judiciary following claims of bribery and incompetence among judges and magistrates.

In August 2016, Kang'ata filed a petition in the National Assembly accusing KRA enforcement officers of corruption which led to the availability of fake alcoholic drinks in the market.

The petition also accused the officers of failing to decentralize enforcement measures to stockists.