Bahati: From Mathare orphanage to aspiring politician

Piece by: DORIS NJOKI

18 August 2022

• Bahati has won by a landslide after managing to clinch the Mathare parliamentary seat.

• The musician announced the news himself via his "team Bahati" Instagram account.

Bahati shocked many when he announced his bid to run for Mathare MP.

The unrelenting musician turned Politician Kevin kioko alias Bahati gave the campaign shot the best ,sadly he lost to Anthony Oluoch.

Failure is a word that does not exist in Bahati's dictionary as we've seen him rise from being a street child in the Mathare slums to being the celebrity he is today.

Bahati who is an orphan and has partly dwelt in the ABC Mathare orphanage has overtime proved that he is a jack of all trades.

His debut song "Mama" was once a hit which was greatly received by the audience and the gospel industry.

Bahati doubles up a brand ambassador for different products. Some of the endorsements include his wife Diana Marua and his kids Heaven and Majesty.

Earlier on the musician had a hard time getting nominations to run the Mathare parliamentary race.

Bahati was allegedly removed from Mathare Mp bid after Azimio La Umoja Coalition settled on Anthony Aluoch to fly their flag.

ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna during a meeting between ODM and Jubilee said Bahati will step aside from the race since Anthony Oluoch is their preferred candidate.

"We only have one candidate in Mathare and that is Anthony Oluoch, this young man called Bahati is my younger brother and we will talk.

I will make sure that we find him another position within the Azimio government," said Sifuna.

Bahati has told his supporters to ignore the propaganda and wait for his official announcement.

"Ignore the propaganda. I will be addressing the press shortly." A few months ago, Bahati accused Jubilee party after they had recalled his nomination certificate.

Bahati accused the party of being unfair to him and admitted that Mathare had been zoned as an ODM area.

He challenged Jubilee to give him a chance as a youthful leader as he is the people's choice. “Give the people of Mathare a chance to get the leader they have always wanted.

These people of Mathare have suffered. I did not come to politics to get a job because I already had one.

They deserve someone who understands them,” he said. Bahati further made an appeal to Jubilee Party leader President Uhuru Kenyatta to come to his defense.

"Dear My President H.E Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta... Dear The 5th Raila Amollo Odinga... I Strongly Believe There's a space for the Youth in the Azimio Government...

Please Intervene on this issue and Let the People of Mathare Get Justice," Bahati pleaded.

Will he go back to doing music now that he has lost?