Evans Kama: The Kangema youth leader betting on education, enterprise and a new generation

Kiamara is not the sort of place that usually introduces people to national politics.

For Evans Kama, however, it was where the ideas began.

He grew up around farmers who started their days early, families stretching limited incomes to keep children in school and a church community that placed a premium on responsibility and service.

At Gatunduini ACK Church, he says, he learnt the values of integrity, accountability, faith and resilience that now inform his political outlook.

Those lessons have followed him into his bid for the Kangema parliamentary seat.

The work before the campaigns

Kama's political pitch does not begin with Parliament.

He points to his work with Youth for Kangema and the Mt Kenya Youth Organisation, where he says more than 1,000 young people have benefited directly or indirectly through mentorship and financial support.

He also organised the Economics Youth Summit at Sun City Hotel in Sagana, creating a forum for young people to discuss leadership, enterprise and economic opportunities.

These initiatives form an important part of the case he is making to voters: that leadership should have evidence behind it before asking for a bigger mandate.

The claimed numbers and recognition are drawn from Kama's supplied profile; independent public documentation of them is limited.

Education, first investment

Education is at the centre of Kama's proposed parliamentary agenda.

His first priority, should he win, would be to make secondary education more affordable through a strengthened NG-CDF framework.

He also proposes a target of having at least 80 percent of Kangema students progress to tertiary education, including Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions.

The argument is straightforward: a student should not leave school because a family cannot raise the fees.

For Kama, that is not simply a development target.

He describes it as a moral responsibility.

From the classroom to the coffee farm

His agenda extends beyond education.

Kangema's economy depends heavily on agriculture, particularly coffee, tea and dairy farming, and Kama says farmers need better returns from what they already produce.

His proposals include more transparency within cooperatives, greater value addition and stronger access to markets, with the aim of moving farmers from producing for survival to producing for profit.

For young people, he proposes expanding mentorship, creating digital innovation spaces and connecting enterprise groups to financing and markets rather than leaving them with training alone.

The book behind the politics

There is another clue to how Kama sees his own journey.

He is writing a book titled Silent Preparation, centered on the idea that meaningful success is often preceded by years of work nobody sees.

That theme appears repeatedly in his public message.

He speaks about discipline, faith and remaining focused during periods when there is little recognition.

It is an unusually revealing idea for a politician who is now asking voters to notice him.

A candidate still building his case

Kama has never previously held elective office, and that matters.

He is entering the 2027 race without a parliamentary record to point to.

His argument therefore rests largely on his grassroots activities, youth engagement and the programme he says he wants to implement in Kangema.

That gives voters a relatively simple question to answer: is the work he has done outside Parliament enough to earn him a seat inside it?

For now, Evans Kama is still making that case.

His political story remains unfinished, but the proposition is clear:

Start with education, build economic opportunity for young people, make farming pay, and bring a stronger emphasis on integrity to leadership.

He calls the philosophy silent preparation.

The 2027 election will be the louder test.