Achani credits victory to outgoing county boss Mvurya

In the run-up to the August 9 general election, three women from the coastal region came out to vie for the Kwale, Kilifi, and Lamu governor posts.

Fatuma Achani, Aisha Jumwa, and Umra Omar are described as abrasive and confident women leaders who took the men politicians head-on for the top county seats.

However, as the election dust slowly settles down, Achani is the only one who has emerged the winner of the highly contested elections.

Jumwa came in second in the Kilifi governor race and Umra was third in Lamu.

Both Achani and Jumwa were vying on the United Democratic Alliance party ticket, whereas Umra ran on the Safina party ticket.

Achani, who has served for 10 years as Kwale Deputy Governor, emerged the winner after beating five men.

They were Hamadi Boga of ODM, Chai Lung’anzi of Pamoja African Alliance, businessman Gereza Dena (Kanu), Kwale Speaker Sammy Ruwa (Independent), and former Cabinet Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere (Wiper).

Achani came into politics in 2013 as a running mate of the outgoing Kwale governor Salim Mvurya.

They were elected on the ODM party ticket before they moved out and got re-elected on the Jubilee party.

However, the duo left Jubilee to join UDA towards the election.

Achani bagged 59,674 votes against her closest competitor Boga who had 53, 972 followed by Lung'anzi (47, 301), Mwakwere (9, 639), Ruwa (5, 562) and Dena 2,310.

In Kilifi, Jumwa, who garnered 65,893 votes, lost to ODM's Gideon Mung'aro who got 143, 773 votes.

Lawyer George Kithi of the PAA party was third with 64, 326 votes.

Jumwa,  47-year-old, was the first Kilifi woman representative in 2013 before she vied for the Malindi MP seat in 2017. She was the first elected woman MP in Malindi.

In Lamu, Umra, a 39-year-old humanitarian and founder of Safari Doctors, an organization that delivers primary medical care to Lamu communities, managed 7,556 votes.

Former Lamu governor Issa Timamy of Amani National Congress emerged the winner with 24,198 votes after dislodging the incumbent Fahim Twaha of Jubilee who got 16,054 votes.

Achani credited her victory to Mvurya, whom she described as, a champion for women's leadership.

Achani, 38-year-old, was declared the winner by IEBC at the Kenya School of Government in Matuga on Friday night.

In her acceptance speech, Achani said she is proud of her election as the first woman governor of the Muslim community.

Kwale is a conservative region, where women’s leadership has not been fully accepted. 

For years, the local community believed women cannot lead and their only place was in the kitchen and giving birth.

Achani said her opponents took advantage of some of the archaic religious quotes, outdated traditions, and culture to undermine her leadership.

The governor-elect thanked Mvurya for supporting women’s leadership and convincing people that women deserve better.

“I would like to sincerely thank governor Mvurya for standing by me,” she said.

She hailed the residents for rejecting myths and misconceptions about women leadership and choosing a female to lead them.

The governor-elect said she was moved by the people's decision and would not take it for granted.

“We have proved to the world that any person regardless of gender or religion can run for elective positions. I will serve as a good example to all Kwale people and Kenyans that women can lead,” she said. 

The governor-elect urged locals to observe peace and unity.

“It doesn't matter who voted for me or not. I am a governor for all. So let's put politics aside and shun division for prosperity,” she said.

Achani praised her husband, Ali Kanga, for supporting her ambitions.

She said it is not easy for men to support wives achieve their dreams and becoming more powerful than them.

It was the first time for Achani to publicly introduce her husband after so many years of her leadership.

She said her husband has been there for her and provided her with the necessary support during times of hardship. 

Achani will be running the Kwale government alongside her deputy Chirema Kombo.

Kombo is formerly the Samburu/Chengoni MCA.

Achani, who was born in Kingwede Msambweni constituency, holds a law degree from Moi University and a Diploma from the Kenya School of Law.

She studied at Kingwede Primary and later Mama Ngina Girls' High School in Mombasa.

Before joining politics, she worked as an Associate Advocate in one of the law firms in Mombasa.

At one point she served as a legal counsel and programme officer for the Federation of Women Lawyers (Fida-Kenya).

In an interview, Achani said the love for women's empowerment and development is what inspired her to join politics.

She said she wanted to break the marginalisation of women in leadership, empower them to be successful and end poverty.

She believes empowering women has ripple benefits for the entire society.

Edited by Kiilu Damaris