Mumias East Member of Parliament Peter Salasya has melted hearts across Kenya after publicly revealing his newborn daughter and dedicating a touching and characteristically humorous message to her that has since gone viral online.
The outspoken legislator, never one to do anything quietly, used the moment to make a series of promises to his little girl that ranged from deeply personal to boldly ambitious.
Salasya told his daughter she is destined to become a doctor and not just any doctor, but a surgeon. He assured her that by the time she qualifies, Kenya will have been transformed into a medical powerhouse comparable to India in matters of healthcare, and that doctors in the country will be highly paid.
He then went a step further, declaring that he himself intends to be president by that time, blessing his daughter with both a career path and a father in State House.
But it was the story behind the baby’s arrival that truly captured Kenyans’ hearts. Salasya revealed that on the day he was beaten and roughed up, her mother came to his apartment to check on him and console him.
It was during that visit, he said with characteristic candour, that the child was conceived, describing the painful incident as having carried within it an unexpectedly enormous blessing.
“That beating came with a very big blessing,” he said, in a line that summed up his entire outlook on life, finding joy and purpose in the most unlikely of circumstances.
Kenyans flooded the comments with congratulations, laughter and admiration for the MP’s unfiltered and endearing way of sharing his most personal moments with the public.