When Kirinyaga Woman Representative Jane Njeri Maina walked
into Harvard University this week, it was more than just an academic milestone.
For her, it was the fulfilment of a dream her late father
once spoke into life.
Njeri, a law graduate from the University of Nairobi, had
often shared her ambitions with her father.
Before his passing ahead of the 2022 General Elections, he
would remind her of the promise he saw in her.
“You know, one day, people will be watching you on TV,” he
would tell her with conviction. At the time, it seemed far-fetched, but his words
lingered.
In 2022, Njeri joined politics for the first time, winning
the Kirinyaga Woman Rep seat despite the personal grief of losing her father
during the campaign season.
Now, three years later, she has stepped into the halls of
Harvard Law School to pursue her master’s degree, a moment she describes as
bittersweet.
“It guts me to pieces that he is not here to see all this,”
she reflected in a post on Facebook on Wednesday.
“But I feel like he spoke it to life. I’m doing all the
things we planned. I’m truly everything he thought I’d be.”
Beyond politics, Njeri is juggling multiple passions.
She recently launched
a podcast, is recording an EP, and is restructuring her cosmetics line, all
part of a journey she believes her father envisioned for her.
To her, the Harvard enrolment is not just a personal victory
but a symbol of resilience, reminding her of the values her father instilled:
ambition, faith, and perseverance.
“Continue resting, dearest dad,” she wrote in her
reflection.
“I’m doing all the
things we planned.”
For Njeri, every step she takes at Harvard is not just for
her.
It is for the man who believed in her before the world ever
did. And that man is his dad.
