Karen Nyamu has gotten candid about the pressures of being both a senator and a hands-on mother to three young children, admitting that the guilt of being away from them often wins.
In a podcast-style interview she shared on her Instagram, the nominated senator sat down for a warm, candid conversation filmed on a vividly decorated set complete with pink armchairs and a yellow door backdrop.
The tone was reflective, and Nyamu did not hold back about the emotional cost of juggling her political career with parenthood.
Nyamu envied politicians with grown children
The mother of three was honest about the fact that her young children make the demands of politics that much harder to manage.
She said politicians whose children are older are at an advantage because they can pour all their energy into their work without the same pull toward home.
“I get too busy for family sometimes. I think politicians who have grown children are the best because they can give it all their time. For me, I need to balance,” she said.
Nyamu described a recurring cycle where the guilt of being away from her children forces her to step back entirely from her work on the ground, prioritising home life until she feels she has caught up.
While colleagues embrace overseas trips for conferences and benchmarking sessions, she confessed to finding no comfort in being away from Kenya.
She gave a telling example of a recent parliamentary trip to Malawi, where her colleagues stayed for the full 12 days. Nyamu left after just three.
“My colleagues were there for 12 days. I was there for three days because I cannot be away from home ground. My kids are calling, ‘Mum, where are you? When are you coming? Are you coming tomorrow?'” she recounted.
That pressure, she said, is immediate and personal. The moment her key interest in a conference or event wraps up, she books the next available flight home, regardless of what remains on the programme.
“When I’m done with what I was really interested in, I’m on the next flight. I’m going home,” Nyamu said.
The interview paints a picture of a woman who is deeply committed to her work but equally unwilling to let her children feel abandoned. For Nyamu, being present is not just a value but a necessity she cannot trade away for political obligations, no matter how significant.
