John Paul Mwirigi (born 7 January 1994) is a Kenyan politician who made history in 2017 as the youngest-ever Member of Parliament in Kenya, winning the Igembe South Constituency seat in Meru County at just 23 years old as an independent candidate. He ran a largely barefoot, door-to-door grassroots campaign, often on foot and using public transport, relying on small donations and volunteer support rather than the deep pockets and party machinery of his rivals. In the 2022 general election, he retained the Igembe South seat under the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) banner, cementing his status as a two-term MP and a symbol of youth entry into high-level politics. Mwirigi’s backstory is frequently invoked as a case study in social mobility: he supported himself with casual jobs, including carrying logs at Igembe Tea Factory for KSh350 a day, while nurturing his political ambition from the age of 19. After his surprise victory, President Uhuru Kenyatta fulfilled a public promise by gifting him a Toyota Prado in September 2017 — a gesture that became one of the most replayed images of the 12th Parliament, and which Mwirigi later said did not create a bond of political “loyalty” to the former president.