Mumias East Member of Parliament Peter Salasya has been on the lips of a number of Kenyans after his latest remarks on the sidelines of the inaugural Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi.
Salasya appeared clueless about the summit and has since dismissed those criticising him. He said his mandate is not about Climate Change, but issues concerning the people of Mumias East.
This is not the first time Salasya is making headlines. He has had his field day before, and it looks like he is not about to stop.
But who is Peter Salasya?
Born Peter Kelerwa Salasya in January 1989, the legislator went to Shanderema Primary School and later joined Lubinu High School in Kakamega county in 2006.
His father died when he was in form two.
Salasya later joined Egerton University in Nakuru County to pursue a Bachelor of Commerce (Bcom) course. There, he dived into campus politics when he was in his first year.
Salasya vied for the position of Director of Academics, but failed with a thud. He made a second attempt in third year, when he vied for vice chairman position.
In 2014, he graduated and went back to Kakamega, where he landed his first job as a bicycle hawker helping a local venture sell bicycles.
Through the help of a friend, Salasya landed a meaningful job with DTB bank in Kakamega, as his dream of becoming a leader blossomed.
In 2017, he took his first stab at national politics by vying as Mumias East MP, but he came last among the nine candidates, with only 254 votes.
Salasya attributes this to lack of resources against the big boys in politics. His campaigns were mostly by attending funerals and giving Ksh.200 as contribution.
After the election, he lost his job at the bank and volunteered as a tutor at the Sigalagala National Polytechnic. He earned Ksh.13,000, part of which he spent to get people’s support.
Also, Salasya embarked on addressing the burning Mumias Sugar issue, advocating for the receivership of the miller to save it from collapse. This earned him admiration among the constituents.
As the 2022 election approached, Salasya was already a darling in Mumias East, but had no resources to campaign.
His constituents built him a mud house, and Eugene Wamalwa paid Ksh.100,000 for Salasya to vie for MP seat under DAP-K party.
Without enough resources to even hire agents, Salasya heavily relied on his constituents to protect his votes, and indeed when the results were announced, he had won.
The MP has never shied away from sharing his journey to the high table, even when it is riddled with controversy.
