Ex-K24 news anchor announces entry into politics

Mwanaisha on Monday, September 20 announced that she had been given the blessing to vie in 2022.

“I would like to thank the elders for the responsibility they have bestowed on me to fill the gap left by my mother in Matungu. I will do my best if God grants us the win in 2022.

“I welcome the people of Matugu to walk this journey with me because the power lies with them and I will just be a custodian,” she said after a meeting with elders.

Journalist Mwanaisha Chidzuga with her late mother, former Kwale Woman Representative Mama Zainab Chidzuga Pulse Live Kenya

This is likely to cause a rift within the family as her brother Hassan Chidzuga has also declared interest in the seat.

He expressed the need for the family to deliberate further on the choice candidate without any malice or ill-will.

“We will sit down and vote, its just that she has expressed interest and I too have expressed interest in the seat as her elder brother. We will sit down and find the way forward," Hassan said.

The family has a background in politics with their late mother Zainab Chidzuga having served as a former Woman Representative for Kwale.

Zainab passed away in August 2021 and was eulogised as a champion for women's rights and those of Kwale residents.

She was elected the first Kwale woman rep on a Jubilee party ticket and served for only one term.

She helped overcome negative cultural beliefs in Matuga that women can lead too.

Mwanaisha Chidzuga’s late father was also a symbol of leadership in the family and a senior officer in the defunct provincial administration.

“Our father, Fundi Chidzuga Asman, used to be a Provincial Administrator and he worked in different areas before settling in Kwale in 1995 a few years before his retirement. Because of this, I attended five primary schools before we settled in Kwale,” she told People Daily in a past interview.

The former news anchor’s marriage to former Garsen MP Danson Mungatana could also provide a chance to learn some political strategies from her husband who served for over 10 years.

Danson Mungata and his wife Mwanaisha Chidzuga Danson Mungata's wife Mwanaisha Chidzuga pulls down photos of her husband after arrest Pulse Live Kenya