Kang'ata was born in 1980 in Murang'a County and attended Murang'a Township Primary School between 1986 and 1993. He was admitted to Thika High School in 1994, where in 1997 he qualified for admission to the University of Nairobi for a Bachelor of Laws degree. In 1999 he was elected Vice Chair of Kenya Law Student Society and later in the same year elected the Vice Chairman of SONU. He was suspended in 2000 for two years for leading a strike. He rejoined campus in 2003 after the new NARC regime granted amnesty to former suspended students and graduated in 2005. In 2006 he joined the Kenya School of Law for his diploma in law. He earned a Master of Laws degree from University of Nairobi.
Career
Kang'ata runs a law firm called Irungu Kangata & Company Advocates that specializes in corporate law. The firm is located next to the British Embassy at Flamingo Towers, 4th Floor, in Upperhill, Nairobi. In 2002, Kang'ata was elected as a Councillor for Central Ward in Murang'a town. In 2007, he was admitted to the bar. After being employed by various advocates, he was employed as a state counsel in the Attorney General's chambers in 2009. He left soon thereafter to establish his law firm. In 2012, Kang'ata defended Rebecca Kerubo, a security guard who was allegedly assaulted by the deputy Chief JusticeNancy Baraza. Following an inquiry, the deputy Chief Justice resigned nine months after the accusations. In 2013, Kang'ata contested for the Kiharu parliamentary seat on a TNA ticket, which he won after receiving 63,148 votes and defeating nine rivals. The TNA party was later merged with the URP to form the Jubilee Party of Kenya, which is led by Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, as party leader and deputy party leader respectively. In 2015, Kang'ata fired three members of the local CDF committee over what he termed as misappropriation of funds meant for bursaries. In February 2016, he called for the overhaul of the Judiciary following claims of bribery and incompetence among judges and magistrates. In August 2016, Kang'ata filed a petition in the National Assembly accusing KRA enforcement officers of corruption which led to the availability of fake alcoholic drinks in the market. The petition also accused the officers of failing to decentralize enforcement measures to stockists.
Awards
People's Shujaaz Awards
In 2015, Kang'ata was nominated for the Mzalendo Trust People's Shujaaz Award, given to lawmakers who championed issues of public interest in both the National Assembly and the Senate. Kang'ata was nominated for sponsoring the Higher Education Loans Board Bill, which was however rejected by the President. The bill would have barred HELB from penalizing debtors who were yet to get jobs and had filed affidavits proving that they were unemployed.
CDF Management Award
In the same year, Kang'ata was also awarded by Central Kenya Forum for Peace for best management of Constituency Development Fund and investing in domestic water projects. The report by the Forum revealed that Kang'ata had invested more than Ksh.42 million in the domestic projects.
Personal life
Kang'ata is strongly opposed to the rights of the LGBT community. In 2015, he led peaceful demonstrations in Nairobi against LGBT people, intended to deter US President Barack Obama from mentioning gay rights during his visit to Kenya. Kang'ata is probably one of the modest politicians in Kenya. He has sometimes claimed that he lives simply, having made investments while working as a lawyer for the future support of his family. He has also been described as Kenya's 'poorest' MP. He attends many political and charitable events, and makes small financial contributions to a number of organizations.
Kang'ata declared his interest for a senatorial position in 2017 general elections. He aimed to unseat the then incumbent SenatorKembi Gitura. This move, however, was considered a contradiction to his stand. For instance, in 2014, surprisingly, Kang'ata was quoted as demanding for scrapping of the senate, claiming that it duplicated National Assembly tasks. He argued that doing away with the Upper House would save the country a lot of money that would then be channeled to development projects. Announcing his bid, Kanga'ata retracted his earlier statement saying that devolution cannot be realized without the Senate. In the Jubilee primaries Kang'ata beat incumbent Kembi Gitura by garnering 158,167 votes. Kembi received 146,207. Kang'ata's win resulted in a bitter exchange of harsh words with his close rival with each accusing the other of rigging. Gitura claimed that Kang’ata rigged in the primaries and was illegally declared the winner. Kang'ata was elected the Senator for Murang'a County in the 2017 General Election. Kang'ata garnered 279,285 which translate to 55.11% of the vote cast. After being sworn, Kang'ata, along with Nairobi's Johnson Sakaja, Kimani Wamatangi and Nakuru's Susan Kihika applied for Gitura's old Senate Deputy Speaker seat. He is currently serving as Senate's Deputy Chief Whip after he was appointed by the majority party to that post. He is also serving as a temporary speaker in the Senate. In May 2020, Kang'ata replaced Susan Kihika as the Senate Majority Chief Whip of The Jubilee Pary.
