Kalonzo Musyoka called me after my video viral

Piece by: Dennis Milimo

20 August 2022

• Papa Festus used his HELB money to campaign but failed to secure the seat

• Festus Githinji went viral after crying on Camera for losing MCA Seat in Mbeu ward

Aspiring MCA Festus ‘Papa’ Githinji has opened up after being ‘character developed’ by electorates in Mbeu ward in his quest to represent them at the County Assembly.

Speaking to Mpasho’s Dennis Milimo, Papa Festus divulged that Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka reached out to him after his video went viral.

“After that video went viral, my party leader Kalanzo Musyoka called me. I want to thank him so much because he played a very big role, in making me abandon so many things and go back to helping people again. He told me he also started that way and ended up being a big name in politics.

“I know this is just the beginning and whenever there is an opportunity I will continue to help my people,” Festus said.

The young politician narrates that he doesn’t regret airing out his frustrations in the viral video that captured him crying.

“I don’t regret it at all, you know God is the planner of everything. I never expected that you will be interviewing me today, but it’s because of that video, that why we are here. So everything happens per his plans and I don’t have any regrets at all," he added.

During the interview, Githinji said that he recorded the video in question at 3:00 am after receiving disappointing results from various polling stations.

“I woke up at a round 3:00 am in the morning and decided to air out my frustrations. I had invested a lot in the election including my HELP money. I felt like voters had betrayed me and that is why I recorded the video," he says.

The vitality of the video that showed Papa Festus crying, raised concerns among Kenyans with a section reaching out to console him.

This forced him to record a second video where he assured Kenyans that all was well but in a real sense he was still struggling with the bitter truth of losing his bid in the MCA race.

“I record another video to show people I’m okay but I was just hiding the pain. My biggest concern was how I was going to bounce back after spending everything I had on campaigns," Festus explained.

Adding that;

“I called one of my guys inquiring how the counting process was fairing on. To my shock, he told me I had only two votes in that polling station. I opted to reach out to another guy who was at my home polling station, thinking things were good on that side. He told me I had only 5 votes, I thought he was lying and even asked him to speak in Meru but he just said the same thing,”.

Festus also sacrificed his electronics business in the process of raising money for his campaigns but still, he was not elected.

“When I was in campus, I was saving for a political seat, but that money was not enough. So I did fundraising with the help of my friends. My family also helped.

“I was also running an electronics business so in the process, I had to let it go and inject the money into my campaigns and so my business died just like that,” Papa Festus disclosed.

Festus Githinji lamented that on voting day, his competitors were busy bribing voters, yet he had nothing to give.

“On voting day, my opponents were dishing out money and I had nothing to give. I even advised my people not to focus on money. I thought they would consider my advice but on Election Day they received money and forgot about me,” the politician said.