Biography
Moses Francis Masika Wetangula is a Kenyan politician and speaker of the national assembly. He was born on the 13th of September 1956 in the Western part of Kenya. Wetangula is currently 66 years of age. The 66-year-old hails from Mukhweya Village Constituency. Some people call him by the name Papa wa Roma. Read to find out why he is referred as Papa wa Roma.
Moses Wetangula Education Journey
He began his education journey at Nalondo Primary School and later proceeded to Busakala Secondary school. Wetangula also attended Teremi Secondary school and Friends School Kamusinga (1980).
Moses Wetangula then joined the University of Nairobi where he studied and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Law.
He later proceeded to the Kenya School of Law. This means he is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
He was a member of the Board of Directors of ICROSS Kenya from 1989.
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Career of Moses Masika Wetangula
Wetangula served as a public officer where he was the chairman of the Electricity Regulatory Board and also as a magistrate.
His political career picked up when he was nominated as Kanu MP after the 1992 general elections serving until 1997.
He was elected to the national assembly from 2002 to 2013 where he served as Sirisia Constituency MP.
Wetangula worked in the ministry of foreign affairs from 2008 to 2010 during which he was entangled in the Tokyo Embassy Scandal. After a cabinet reshuffle by president Mwai Kibaki, Wetangula found himself as the minister of Trade and served till 2013.
He was then elected as Senator of Bungoma County in 2013 and became the minority leader in the Senate.
In the 2022 general elections, Wetangula’s party Ford Kenya and ANC joined forces with UDA to form the Kenya Kwanza Alliance where he became a co-principal. Additionally, he was re-elected as senator for Bungoma but resigned shortly to vie for the position of Speaker of the National Assembly which he won.
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Moses Wetangula’s Wife, family and children
The speaker of the National Assembly has three wives.
His first wife (Phylis) no longer stays with him. Wetangula’s second wife is a Bukusu lady whom she has a daughter with. They got married in a traditional Bukusu wedding. His third wife is Ane Waceke Ngugi who was recently accused of battling Wetangula on accounts of infidelity. The couple would allegedly fight and report each other to the police.
The former senator is a father of five children, four daughters, and a son. His son’s name is Fidel Wetangula, daughters are Sheila Wetangula and Tamara Wetangula.
He is from a family of four with three brothers and one sister. His brothers include Westlands MP, Timothy Wanyonyi Wetangula, Nairobi-based businessman Fred Wetangula, and the late Tony Waswa Wetangula.
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Wetangula’s Father and family
Moses Wetangula is the son of Mzee Dominic Wetangula, a retired teacher at Nalondo School. He is a polygamous man with several wives and 15 children.
Net worth
The national assembly speaker’s net worth is estimated to be around Ksh. 200 – 500 million. He has acquired most of his income through his political career but also has other investments.
Tokyo Embassy Scandal
Wetangula left his position as minister on 27 October 2010 following an investigation into his alleged involvement in the Kenyan Tokyo Embassy scandal. It was alleged that instead of accepting free property from the government of Japan for the embassy, Ksh 1.6 billion was withheld from the sale of the Kenyan property in Nigeria and used to buy a less suitable property.
He was later absolved of the allegations and any charges by five separate probes. He later returned to the ministry in 2011.
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How Wetangula acquired Papa wa Roma nickname
Wetangula got the name papa w aroma when he chose to go to Nalondo primary school instead of the much nearer Namilama primary school because of academic quality.
Nalondo primary school was a catholic school and grounded him in the Catholic faith landing him the name of some of his colleagues.