Erick Muuga Muriithi is the third born child among six children, born and raised in Nyabene Hills in Igembe South Constituency, Meru County.
His nomination to the Water Cabinet Secretary (CS) position by President William Ruto did not only come as a suprise to his family and village but is also a miracle.
The parents of Murithi have expressed their joy over the nomination, saying that no one will do the job better that the humble and devoted son they brought up.
According to his father, Benson Mugaa, his family has nothing, and he has been planting tea and doing menial jobs to fend for the family. Therefore, the nomination is a huge blessing to him and the community around.
“A friend from Nairobi called to let me know that Murithi had been named to become a CS, and I felt very happy because my son went to school when I was really troubled. Our family had nothing. We were planting tea and doing other menial jobs to survive.
“If God has given him the opportunity to serve then he should serve faithfully and diligently. He will do a good job because that is how he is,” he said.
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Parents of Erick Muuga Narrate Struggles While Educating Murithi
In addition, Benson narrated that Murithi survived hardship to go through his primary school education. Despite the huddles, he scored good grades in his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), securing a spot at Lenana School.
“He went to school in 1998 in a local school here and studied there until class 3. When he went to class 4 took him to a boarding school nearby and then later moved him to St John’s boarding school where he completed his primary school education.
“From there he joined Lenana Boys High School and after he sat for his KCSE exams,” narrated Beson.
Further, after his high school education, Murithi came back to teach at a local primary school as he waited to join the University of Nairobi, where he studies Civil engineering, graduating with a First-Class Honors.
“He came back and became a teacher at a local day school for two years. He then went to Nairobi University where later on his career kicked off.
“He scored an A- of 79 points in form 4 and when he went to the University of Nairobi, he pursued civil engineering and got a first class,” his father added.
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Mother Speak of His Humility and Service Back at Home
At the same time, the mother described Erick Muuga as a child full of surprises, and one who interacted with everyone in the community. She said that her son does all kinds of work to help the family when he visits including cooking and doing farm work.
“Erick was full of surprises as a child. Even as an adult he comes here and cooks for me. He is a social person to people, his community and back at home.
“I want to thank the president for nominating him. We are happy and we know he will do the job very well,” she said, a sentiment that was reiterated by Mureithi’s brother.
On the other hand, his father has termed the nomination a miracle, saying that their family is not even known by any politician to influence such an achievement.
“He does all kinds of work, even if you send him to the farm he has no problem with it. Our family if very poor, this is just a miracle because when we were born there was no one in the family who was educated.
“I also dropped out of school in class 7. This is just the love of God. If people talk about politicians, there is no politician that knows who we are,” he added.
Murithi has over 8 years in experience as an engineer and is a registered Graduate Engineer with Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) and the Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK).
If approved, Erick Muuga will take over from Zachariah Njeru as the CS of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation.
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