- She was commissioned to the rank of Second Lieutenant in 1985 and posted to the Kenya Air Force.
- Last year, she was appointed as the Senior Directing Staff Air by President Ruto.
Image: HANDOUT
Major General Fatuma Gaiti Ahmed shuttered glass ceiling on Thursday after President William Ruto appointed her the first ever woman to be a service commander and head of Kenya Air Force.
Her trailblazing streak started in 2015 after then president Uhuru Kenyatta promoted her to one star general, formally known as Brigadier in the air force.
At the time, Ahmed had been in service for 32 years having enlisted in 1983 before serving as a commissioned second lieutenant officer under the women-only Kenya Women Service Corps.
She was moved to the air force when the unit was absorbed into the three armed services in 1999.
Six years later in 2021, the president gave her an additional star in the ranks, promoting her to Major general, a gain breaking the record as the first woman ever to hold the rank.
Ahmed now becomes the senior most officer in the air force, taking the place of John Omenda, now a lieutenant general who has been appointed the new Vice Chief of Defence Forces.
She was commissioned to the rank of Second Lieutenant in 1985 and posted to the Kenya Air Force.
Last year, she was appointed as the Senior Directing Staff Air by President Ruto.
Major General Ahmed has served as a Battalion Second in Command (BN 2IC) Staff Officer II Audit Personnel and Records.
She is a graduate of the National Defence College and an alumnus of the Defence Staff College where she graduated in July 2000. Major General Ahmed holds a Diploma in Management from Strathmore University College.
Ahmed also has a degree from the Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies and has served mainly in human resources roles.
Born in 1965, Ahmed often told his friends that she joined the Army by accident.”
Upon completing secondary school in 1983 she had to return to her home town in order to get an identification card and at that time, the military happened to be recruiting at a stadium near to the offices of the ID services and she made enquiries about joining. She joined the Kenya Military Academy as an officer cadet in 1984.