By Stanley Ongwae
Had his journey from Kisii to Nairobi succeeded as planned, Walter Chanua would not have found a reason to settle in Narok Town.
Chanua’s trip aborted when he was thrown out of the bus and abandoned in Narok after the crew suspected he was a stowaway in 2002.
That was after he lost the only Sh1,000 he had for his fare in a manner that he has never understood from that time to date.
Chanua now serves as Narok County’s Director in charge of Finance Services.
Several years down the line, Chanua has no regrets.
“With a mix of frustration and fright, he just picked himself up, dusted his clothes and embarked on a new life in the streets,” his boss, Governor Patrick Ole Ntutu disclosed during the burial of Chanua’s father, Peter Ondieki at Ekerenyo in Nyamira County a few weeks ago.
Chanua is one of the emerging politicians in the County, where he has shown intention to vie for governorship in the next general elections.
Unlike many politicians who get to be recognized when they are already adults and fairly well networked and endowed, very little was known about Chanua until the revelation was made.
Ntutu was addressing mourners when he fondly spoke about Chanua as a brilliant mind who needed to come back home in Nyamira to claim the county governor’s seat.
“The story of your son (Chanua) is little known to many, but I must confirm to you that the young man was donated to us many years ago by matatu conductors who dumped him in Narok while on his way to Nairobi after rejecting him as a stowaway,” Ntutu said.
“But now, as you can see, he is the man Nyamira County needs. And so, you should count yourselves lucky because he is such a brilliant young man full of great ideas. But if you don’t want him, we still need him in Narok because we know his great potential,” the Governor added.
Ntutu, while praising Chanua said it was because of his effort that Narok County was ranked as the top county out of the 47 in the country in revenue collection.
“Currently, we are rated as the best county in Kenya in terms of revenue collection, courtesy of your son. What reason will you have against his desire to lead your county to prosperity?” Ntutu asked.
Inspiring story
The story of Chanua’s rise from a chief dumpster and general duty personnel in the then Narok County Council to a formidable Nyamira gubernatorial aspirant is akin to the fairy tale of Robinson Crusoe, a young sailor who boarded a ship to tour the world but ended up in an island where he had to survive on his own until many years later when chance happened for him to return home.
In an interview, Chanua confirmed the story saying at the time he was planning the journey from Nyamira, he had just lost his job as an untrained teacher at a friend’s school and was desperate to find any alternative in Nairobi.
“I never wanted to go back home because the state of poverty back there was horrible. One would easily say poverty had made our home its command center,” Chanua said.
After being dumped in Narok Town by the matatu crew about 22 years ago, he had to look for a means of survival by securing the lowest job at the then county council as a garbage collector and dustbin manager.
But thanks to his focus and thirst for education, he scaled the academic ladder at his own pace until now that he has fully claimed bragging rights for his academic journey.
“I used my first salary to enroll for accounting examinations for which I studied at a nearby Kenya National Library Services (KNLS) offices after work and during the night,” Chanua said.
It was after passing his initial accounting exams when Chanua landed a new posting as an assistant to the then County Council Chairman, whom Governor Ntutu said was not conversant with running of office accounts.
Over the years, Chanua says he had to continue with his private studies until he became a certified public accountant, prompting his consequent rise to his current position as director of finance services.
Besides employment, Chanua is one of the most enterprising individuals in Narok and Nyamira Counties where he has heavily invested in farming, property and real estate.
His poultry farming business is said to be the leading in the supply of eggs in the South Rift and Nyanza.
“I am a farmer and my ventures are mainly on poultry. Currently, I am the main supplier of eggs in nearly the entire South Rift and Nyanza counties and the business is growing,” Chanua says.
The politician is among several other politicians who are gathering momentum ahead of the 2027 general elections and he has also declared ambition for Nyamira governor’s seat.
Among the key pillars that he says will form his campaign manifesto is the economic revamping of the county which he says has great growth potential.
The funeral was used to hype campaigns for him with Governor Ntutu boldly endorsing him in the presence of the incumbent counterpart Amos Nyaribo.
Nyaribo who ushered Ntutu to address mourners assured Ntutu and the mourners that he was ready to hand over power to Chanua in the 2032 elections.
Several other politicians have announced their intentions to vie for the county seat including former Kitutu Masaba MP and Orange Democratic Movement Party Treasure Timothy Bosire, Geothermal Development Company Chairman Walter Nyambati and County Woman MP Jerusha Momanyi.
Many other possible contenders are yet to fully make their interests public.