Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waituti is set to make history in Kimabu county as he is determined to make Kiambu the first County in Kenya to have their very own county anthem.
Follwing an advertisement published in one of the local dailies, the County has invited residents to participate in a competition that will see the best participant to produce the best county anthem win a prize of Sh100,000.
In the competition, county has indicated to also get the best designers from the residents to design the county flag and Coat of Arms where the best designer will walk away with Sh50, 000.
According to apart of the advertisement, “Guided by the spirit of devolution and the love for our beloved County of Kiambu, the residents of Kiambu County are invited to participate in a competition for purposes of developing Kiambu County flag, Anthem and coat of Arms.”
According to the requirements, the participants must be a resident hailing from Kiambu County residents and are not supposed to copy and [paste what other counties might have done.
Also the entry for the anthem composition to be submitted in both soft (mp3) and written words, and the participant must give a brief explanation in either English or Kiswahili language the meaning of or the reasons for choosing a particular symbol, colour or song composition.
Entries should be submitted by the 31st of august.
In 2017, Kakamega County Assembly became the first House to pass a Bill that allows the county to have an anthem.
According to the Bill, any person who shows disrespect in speech or writing to the county anthem shall be liable, upon conviction, to a fine not exceeding Sh10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both.
Waititu is described as a “fiery politician” and has been arrested on several occasions, including for “hate speech” directed against ethnic Maasai and for protesting the demolition of shanty houses in his district. In September 2012 he was suspended from his government post over charges of hate speech and inciting violence.In 2014 the High court ruled that Waititu is unfit to hold public office due to integrity issues. In 2015 he was elected MP
He is often referred to as ‘Baba yao’ (Kiswahili for ‘Their father’). He lost the Nairobi gubernatorial election to Dr. Evans Kidero in March 2013.
Fedinard Waititu however found a way back to active politics on 4 May 2015 after winning a seat as a member of parliament for Kabete through a by election following death of the area MP George Muchai who was murdered in the streets of Nairobi.
The landslide win united him with his long term political friend Mike Sonko but in different fields of politics. He however officially announced to run for gubernatorial seat for Kiambu to battle it out with Governor William Kabogo come next general elections.Kiambu people now call him ‘BABA YETU’