Woman aspirant for Marsabit governor says she'll outdo previous male leaders

Gedhia Adan Mamo wants to become Marsabit's first woman governor.

The 33-year-old mother of two was chief officer for  tourism between 2013 and 2017. She holds a master's degree in Governance, Peace and Security studies. She is a consultant with the National Cohesion and Integration Commission. 

“For Marsabit county , I believe a woman can do better than the two governors we have had," Gedhia told the Star in an interview in Nairobi on Wednesday.

Treasury CS Ukur Yatani was Marsabit's first governor; while Ali Mohamud is the current Governor, both elected on Jubilee tickets.

“In pastoral communities it's God first, man second, followed by camels , cattle and then children, particularly boys, and women fall at the bottom with utensils and other properties,”  Gedhie said.

“I know my place in the society as a wife and a daughter but this does not mean I can't lead, ” she added.

As she comes from the minority Sakuye community, she said, conflicts and rivalry between the dominant Borana and Gabra communities will declined or end. That's because she will treat everyone fairly.

Leadership will no longer be recycled between the two main ethnic groups, she said.

“We have been having an interchange of leaders," she said. "If this time, it's Community A, next time it's Community B. This has been a problem resulting in clashes. 

"It's time a minority tribe takes over to bring everyone up and to bring equality," she said.

Born and raised in Marsabit, Gedhia comes from Moyale in the small village of Dabel. She is the eldest child, with two brothers and two sisters.

She attended Kijabe Girls High School, Masindi Muliro University and Africa Nazarine.

 She dresses stylishly, with a pale green headscarf, a belted blue jacket and a long patterned dress. Her fingernails are painted turquoise in colour. Sometimes she wears a blue jeans jacket and flowered head scarf, sometimes a long pink dress. 

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reported the Sakuye community had 27,006 people in the 2019 census, a slight increase from 26,784 in 2013.

In 2013 violent armed conflict broke out in Moyale over competition communities.

Last year two new subcounties – Turbi and Dukana – were created in North Horr constituency and gazetted on October 7, 2020.

“These two communities have always felt they are entitled to power, leaving out the other communities. I am the best person to lead Marsabit because I will treat them equally, with balance and without favouritism," Gedhia said.

Development will be inevitable, she said, as the county will be more stable, investors will come with money..

She knows Marsabit well and her work in government has taught her in detail what people need in a drought-stricken county: stable water for drinking and irrigation, better infrastructure, more jobs, more schools for girls and boys.

However, Gedhia says all these problem can be solved by educating both boys and girls equally and giving women a greater role in development.

“We have problems just like any other county and most challenges are due to illiteracy which is almost 90 per cent. Most times poverty and illiteracy go together because, as today, without education it is hard to pierce through life" she said.

"Being part of the county government, I was able to learn how the system workers, what areas leaders have been neglected and need to be prioritised. In that way people will have access to basic needs," Gedhia said.

WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT

Gedhia believes  women from the North should rise above culture and pursue politics.

Women shouldn't only be empowered in business but also in politics, she says. She urges women to come out and join politics, which has always been viewed as a man's job in the North.

“Women have been stereotyped that we cannot support each other but that is something we have been wrongly made to believe. When our gender stands together, we can do greater things," Gedhia said.

“Culturally, where I come from, women we are supposed to take a back seat in everything.  You are not even suppose to talk in front of people, you can't lead where men have dominated.

"But this  has changed and we want to be role models for girls in the North to make a difference, so they have reason to pursue education," Gedhia said.

Education, she said, will also bring an end to practices such as female genital mutilation.

"I will create awareness of the adverse impact of FGM on young girls and women. That's a step in promoting maternal health.

"When women get educated, they will know the harm of FGM and protect themselves from it," she emphasised.

Women from the North don't want to rise above any man but always try to cling at their neck and not try to get ahead," she said. 

Those who try to do so are called out for trying to change the hierarchy perception of pastoral communities, the young politician said.

As she aims to run for governor, Gedhia has urged youth to stop being duped into voting for people who only offer handouts and ignore development.

She said youths have always blamed the current leaders but fail to stand up and don't take advantage of opportunities for change.

“Tomorrow is never promised and as youths we need to come out now and choose what is best for us in the long run. We wait for people to be elected, then we go and start begging for jobs. I want to change this narrative,” Gedhia added.

(Edited by V. Graham)