“Liberal at heart” philanthropist Dr. Peter Njenga announced his candidacy this week for the new Surrey South riding as an independent after being “rejected” by the BC Liberals.
Njenga has campaigned under a Liberal banner before. In 2015, he ran unsuccessfully for nomination in the federal election as a Liberal candidate for South Surrey-White Rock, but then was named Liberal candidate for Abbotsford and finished second.
For the 2017 provincial election, Njenga said, he applied for nomination with the BC Liberals for the Panorama-Surrey riding, but his application was rejected.
In a Facebook post Jan. 26, Njenga took issue with the BC Liberal party’s candidate nomination process. In the post, he says he wrote a letter to Premier Christy Clark, asking for her blessing to be a candidate in the Surrey-Panorama riding.
“There should be no discrimination for party members seeking election offices,” said Njenga’s online post (sic). “I also question why you did not reply to my letter. I need your advise: If there is no chance of ever been given a chance in our party as a black candidate, should I then go to another party. Somebody told me there is no chance and I want to here from you publically.”
Kenya-born Njenga, who moved to Canada in 2005, is a chartered accountant, licensed real-estate agent and former faculty member at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, teaching finance, accounting and business mathematics. He’s the founder of the Dr Njenga Foundation Charity, which is active in the Lower Mainland and in Kenya.
Njenga said a few topics he will campaign on include balanced community development, affordable education/housing, health care, immigration policies, and senior’s and veterans pension improvements.
“In the next five years, the homelessness in B.C. will be a momentum that will be difficult to handle. Why? Because the housing market,” Njenga told Peace Arch News Wednesday.
A way to help alleviate the problem, he says, is to encourage the development of affordable housing.
“We only see high cost housing.” “Even when we get townhouses – because I’m a Realtor, I can see – they are not affordable.”
Njenga defines himself as a philanthropic public servant, a Christian and community activist.
He has a wife, Jennifer, and five children.