For the politically minded, ANC party leader Musalia Mudavadi’s hard-hitting speech against the Jubilee government in the presence of Deputy President William Ruto was a star-performance during his presidential race launch at Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi on Sunday, January 19.

He eloquently articulated his vision of the kind of country he would like to see in the place of what he declared is a corrupt and totally broke country. He was convincing, knowledgeable and impressive, breaking down what has gone wrong with a country that had appeared to be marching to great success.

However, the show at the Amani National Delegates Conference (NDC) was quite visibly stolen by both his young daughter and his wife Tessy. The two wore classy simple outfits that were only remarkable for the light shades of the party’s green colours.

Tessy did not speak at the convention, but had an assuring presence, as behind every successful man, the saying goes, there is a woman. However, it would have been nice to just give her a chance to greet the people, as often happens at such events, for her voice to be heard, but it was not her day, and she did not seem bothered about that. She elegantly gave a complete presence of the Mudavadi family, with two sons and a daughter.

Maryanne Atsianzale Mudavadi wore a simple green T-shirt and a black skirt. She could have passed for any ordinary young woman just whiling her weekend away in Nairobi. But she had some serious business to do- officially introducing her loving father to deliver his NDC address, outlining his vision of the future.

This had been billed as the “earthquake event” by Mudavadi at which he would unleash a political tremor. He actually lived up to that by ditching the One Kenya Alliance (OKA) to embrace Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Kanu’s Gideon Moi, one half of OKA, had to storm out of Bomas on the surprise arrival of DP Ruto. Ford-Kenya’s Moses Wetang’ula and Mudavadi were left to embrace a man they have in the recent past denounced as corrupt and unfit to lead.

That was politics. But there was something really fresh – the emergence of a new heroine, Maryanne Mudavadi.

Hers was a calm, assured and alluring voice that told in a nutshell about her father’s rise since his own dad’s death to become one of the most prominent Kenyan politicians today.

Maryanne, the last born child of Musalia and Tessy, did a good job in her short speech, restricting herself to introducing her father to the audience, highlighting the positions he has held since he joined politics in 1989, following the death of his father, who was the Minister for Local Government in President Daniel arap Moi’s administration.

“We can see that he is clearly a strong, tried, experienced, very prominent figure in Kenyan politics. My dad is a champion for change for all Kenyans regardless of their age, their gender, their ethnicity and their class,” she proudly declared.

Maryanne works full-time as a recruiter in the Co-operative Bank of Kenya, a position she has held since the beginning of the year. Before this, she was an intern at CPF Financial Services Ltd from March 2021.

She holds a master’s degree in Human Resources Management/ Personnel Administration and a bachelor’s in psychology, both from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom.

Previously, she worked as a volunteer at the Musalia Mudavadi Foundation Trust (MMFT) and the National Assembly Lady Spouses Association, Kenya (NALSA-K).

She has two elder brothers, Moses and Michael. Moses, who was named after his grandfather, is believed to harbour political ambitions, and he often accompanies his father to his political rallies.

Maryanne has been the talk of the town since her cameo role in her father’s big moment that has been seen as charting a new course, after he loudly rejected people he did not name, but whom he said could not be trusted.

Of course, he was bitter with former ally Raila Odinga, the ODM party leader and apparent preferred successor of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

It’s too early tell whether Maryanne will be drawn away from her corporate professional engagement to join politics, having tasted applause at the big event attended by among others, DP Ruto, now her father’s new-found ally. However, here is a star in the making.