DNK International By Our Reporter,Busia
Former Busia County Woman Representative Florence Mwikali Mutua is once again positioning herself at the centre of Busia politics, nearly four years after leaving elective office.
Her political comeback expected to put her on a collision course with the current Busia Woman Representative and ODM acting Secretary-General Catherine Nakhabi Omanyo.
Mutua, who served as Busia’s first elected Woman Representative for two consecutive terms between 2013 and 2022, is a seasoned politician whose career combines public service, international development work and grassroots politics.
She was born in 1968 into a mixed Luhya-Kamba family and lost her father when she was only three years old.
The former woman representative and now a commissioner with Public Service Commission (PSV) was raised for a period by her maternal grandparents in Ukambani.
In a past chat with DNK-International,Mutua said that her early experience of losing a parent and growing up in a different cultural environment helped shape the resilience that later became a defining feature of her public life.
Her academic journey is equally extensive.
She attended Arya Girls’ Secondary School in Nairobi and later later obtained a Diploma in Medical Secretarial Studies from Kenya Polytechnic, a Diploma in Business and Office Management from Kenya School of Business Studies and a Diploma in Public Relations from Wote College.
Mutua later on earned a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management/Business Administration from Methodist University and pursued a Master’s degree in Project Planning at the University of Nairobi.
Before politics, Mutua built a career outside government.
She began working at Aga Khan Hospital in 1993 as a medical secretary and later served in senior administrative roles.
In 2 000, she moved into the international development sector, joining UNICEF and later working in various capacities associated with the United Nations system, including programme assistance, human resources and operations.
Her professional career gave her exposure to development programmes and community work long before she entered elective politics.
The turning point came with the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution.
Mutua has explained that the new constitutional dispensation convinced her that she could move from working with communities through international organisations to directly representing them in Parliament.
She entered the Busia Woman Representative race in 2013 on an ODM ticket and won, becoming the county’s first Woman Representative.
She successfully defended the seat in 2017.
Her political inspiration has been closely associated with the opposition politics of the era, particularly the ODM movement and its leader, the late Raila Odinga.
Her political journey placed her firmly within the Raila-led opposition camp, and her 2016 arrest alongside other opposition figures became one of the defining episodes of her political career.
During her two terms in Parliament, Mutua served on important committees, including Agriculture, Livestock and Cooperatives, Regional Integration, Agriculture and Livestock, and the Public Accounts Committee.
She also became chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Education and Research, giving her a prominent role in national education policy debates.
Her legislative record included championing issues affecting women, children and education.
One of her most notable parliamentary initiatives was the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, which sought, among other things, stronger measures against sexual offences and the reintroduction of sex education in schools.
When the Bill was rejected in Parliament in 2018, Mutua dramatically walked out of the chamber while holding the Bill, an incident that reinforced her reputation as a politician willing to fight publicly for issues she believed in.
Her time in office, however, was not without controversy or political setbacks.
In the 2022 ODM nominations, Mutua sought the party’s ticket for the Busia governorship.
She eventually contested the governor’s seat in the general election but lost to Paul Otuoma.
Her defeat ended her two term stint as Woman Representative and forced her to reassess her political future.
Mutua’s political career has also been marked by confrontation with the state.
In June 2016, during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration, she was among opposition legislators arrested over allegations of hate speech and incitement to violence.
The politicians had publicly criticised remarks directed at Raila Odinga and demanded action against those they accused of making inflammatory statements.
The eight politicians including Mutua were later released on bond after spending about four days in custody.
The charges did not ultimately result in a conviction.
In September 2019, a Nairobi court acquitted Mutua, Junet Mohamed, Aisha Jumwa and Timothy Bosire after the prosecution’s case failed, with the court finding problems with the charge sheet and the translations of the alleged statements.
The 2016 detention became one of Mutua’s most memorable political experiences because it placed her alongside some of the country’s most prominent opposition politicians at a tense moment in Kenya’s political history.
It also strengthened her image among supporters as a politician who was prepared to endure political pressure for her party and political convictions.
Mutua who is the widow to the late Livingstone Waingah,after leaving elective politics she remained active in public affairs and community initiatives.
According to residents in Busia,she has been associated with programmes focusing on women’s empowerment, education, youth opportunities and mentorship.
Her Mama ni Mmoja initiative has also been linked to support for orphans and vulnerable children.
Her political comeback now takes on an additional dimension because of the emergence of Omanyo as a major figure in Busia and ODM politics.
Omanyo who was born in 1978, was elected Busia Woman Representative in 2022 and in February 2026 became ODM’s acting Secretary-General following the removal of Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna from the position.
Mutua’s reported intention to challenge Omanyo is therefore more than a contest between two politicians.
It represents a clash between two generations of Busia women leaders and two political styles: Mutua’s long experience in elective politics and international development against Omanyo’s background in education activism, humanitarian work and her rapid rise within ODM.
Omanyo has established herself through initiatives targeting education, women, girls and vulnerable communities, while Mutua can point to ten years in the Woman Representative’s office and years of parliamentary experience.
What is clear is that the former Woman Representative has maintained a political presence in Busia and has supporters who view her return as an opportunity to revive what they regard as her unfinished agenda.
Her supporters are likely to point to her experience, legislative record, international development background and long association with ODM politics.
To her critics they may question whether the political environment that existed during her tenure is still the same and whether voters are ready to return to a politician who lost the 2022 gubernatorial contest.
One of Mutua’s most enduring characteristics is her combative parliamentary style.
Mutua now stands at an interesting point in her political journey: experienced enough to understand the machinery of Kenyan politics, but still politically active enough to seek another chapter.
Whether she eventually succeeds in reclaiming the Busia Woman Representative seat will depend not only on her personal popularity but also on ODM’s nomination process, the strength of her grassroots organisation and whether Busia voters believe her record deserves another opportunity.
For a woman whose political journey began with a decision to leave the world of international development and enter frontline politics after the 2010 Constitution, the next chapter could become one of the most closely watched political contests in Busia ahead of the 2027 elections.
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