Dr Wahome Gakuru: The soft-spoken but firm economist

Dr Wahome Gakuru greets Mrs Racheal Ruto, wife to Deputy President William Ruto, during Nyeri County prayer day at Dedan Kimathi Stadium in Nyeri town on July 6, 2017. The governor cut an image of a humble man. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • A day before his death, he had spent the morning with one of his three sons, who is a candidate at Alliance Boys High School.

  • Every time he took the mic to address the locals, he would start off with “Nii nio Governor Wanyu Dagitari Wahome wa Gakuru” (Its me your governor Dr Wahome Gakuru)

  • During his swearing-in, he discouraged leaders and locals from calling him “His excellency” until he proves he is worthy of the title.

Though he spoke in undertones, the late Nyeri Governor Wahome Gakuru was a tough-talking man.

After the reign of the late Nderitu Gachagua, a brash governor, Dr Gakuru promised a different kind of leadership.

3 SONS

And he did— mostly projecting an image of a soft-spoken but resilient man.

A day before his death, he had spent the morning with one of his three sons, who is a candidate at Alliance Boys High School.

Every time he took the mic to address the locals, he would start off with “Nii nio Governor Wanyu Dagitari Wahome wa Gakuru” (Its me your governor Dr Wahome Gakuru)

During his swearing-in, he discouraged leaders and locals from calling him “His excellency” until he proves he is worthy of the title.

“Do not refer to me as his excellency until I have fulfilled my promises. Once I have made your lives better you can call me that,” he said.

The PhD holder joined active politics in 2013 when he vied for the gubernatorial seat but lost to the late Nderitu Gachagua.

242,000 VOTES

Gachagua lost his battle for life to pancreatic cancer on February 24 after he succumbed at a London hospital.

Dr Gakuru and his wife Catherine Wahome moments after he was sworn in at Town Hall on August 21, 2017. He had barely served for three months. PHOTO | GRACE GITAU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Dr Gakuru ran on The National Alliance Party  ticket  managed 126,776 against Gachagua’s 137,469 votes.

The economist facing only two opponents was the man to beat in the August 8 General Election.

He garnered 242,000 votes against his competitors— former Deputy Governor Samuel Wamathai and Democratic Party candidate Patrick Munene— who garnered 76,055 and 17,008 votes, respectively.

Dr Gakuru had promised to develop Nyeri at a faster pace following years of slow development.

Dr Gakuru casts his vote at Kirichu Primary School in Nyeri on October 26, 2017. He was part of the team that campaigned for President Kenyatta's re-election. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Nyeri’s development has been on the decline since 2014, reports by the Controller of Budget shows.

CABINET

According to the reports, Nyeri ranked among the bottom five in the last three consecutive financial years in terms of money spent on developmen.

“We are tired of lagging behind and we need to move on,” he told the Nation in an earlier interview.

“I promise to turn things around by constituting a new Cabinet with competent and honest executives.”

He had promised to run a transparent and accountable government.

Late Nyeri Governor Wahome Gakuru. Police are investigating his death. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

“Transparency and accountability are key pillars of our national and public service values and principles. We will institutionalise accountability structures throughout the entire county public service,” he said.

He reassured residents of reviving the health sector, which he had described as “rotten”.

“The county and is currently in the intensive care unit trailing in development. We will fix it.”

But the crash at Kabati robbed him of a chance to fix it.