![ABDIKADIR ORE AHMED / “Clan remains the biggest problem [in North Eastern Kenya] Instead of pulling together for the good of all, there is always a feeling that new leaders favour their clan. This is is toxic,”](http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/EOASdowL4uKldZipAWykUGy2d2l2UW08kNJBLWAKFMOCi8u6WVmYxTxB9ik0jG7nwr7mKVRaEy5bMzOyFLm6oovtfQNI=s512)
Abdikadir Ore Ahmed grew up in conditions of great deprivation. “My mother tells me I never waited for food to be ready. Because there was none. I always picked my schoolbag and galloped to school despite my empty stomach,” says the 44-year MP for Wajir West. This taught him the virtue of humility. He is an easy-going guy. The MP crosses the backstreet street and dines at the “local” food joints in the city centre unnoticed. “Humility is Godly,” he explains rather philosophically.
“We are all equal before the creator.” When not at his workplace, you can find him at Jamia Mosque for the daily prayers. You can not miss him at the adjacent Al-Yusra Restaurant as well, with a host of buddies for a meal. He assumed leadership role right from his childhood in primary and secondary schools having served as school prefect all through. “Many of schoolmates were older than me, but still my teachers believed in my abilities.
They said I had what it takes to lead,” The first term ODM legislature says he opted to join politics because of the clamour for change in both his home constituency and the nation. “I grew up in very difficult circumstances. I gave a shot at politics in an attempt to make an impact to the lives of many,” he says. However, he says development in his area is heavily hindered by what he describes as the toxic “my clan” mentality.
“Clan remains the biggest problem. Instead of pulling together for the good of all, there is always a feeling that new leaders favour their clan. This is is toxic,” says the father of five. Despite North Eastern being the most marginalized region, he says, leaders from the region lack the selflessness and drive to champion for the common good of a population that has remained in the tight grip of historical state neglect.
“Unlike other regions which have placed demands to the government of the day for the betterment of the poor Mama Fatuma, ours is backstabbing and me-first mentality. No wonder Garissa-Wajir-Mandera, despite being the lifeline of the people of the entire North Eastern Kenya remain in such horrible state after more than five decades of self-rule,” he says.
He however says devolution has been godsend for the region. “All is not bleak. I see a North Eastern where the driving agenda will not be the clan. Now that devolution is with us and more resources availed, we expect enormous infrastructural and system changes. That is an opportunity we can’t afford to mess up.”
IN FIVE MINUTES
From nurse to public health specialist
1972: Born in Giriftu, Wajir. Later attended attended Giriftu Primary school between 1979 and 1985
1986: Admitted to Sabunley Secondary School until 1989 when he did his KCSE
1992: Kenya Medical College, Diploma in Nursing, Nutrition and Health systems graduated in 1996
2003: The University of Dundee, Scotland, Bachelor of Sciences in Medical Services, graduated in 2007
2011: Kenya Methodist University, Master’s degree in Health Systems Management
2013: Elected Wajir West MP on ODM ticket 2015: Management University of Africa- Master’s degree in Leadership to graduate in August 2016
QUOTES
2014: “We need to be together and not divide ourselves along ethnic or religious lines. We should not allow our enemies to celebrate. We should not allow civil servants to withdraw from some parts of the country. If we do that, we will be giving in. We should rather look for better solutions to address our security situation.”
2015: “The media is very important to us as Kenyans. As parliamentarians, it is in order for us to support them. It is not always that what they report is negative. We should support them and that is the only way we can advance this progressive Constitution that we have had since 2010.”
2016: “The biggest problem we have, apart from decentralisation to these levels, is that the Department of Registration of Persons does not get any funding. They do not have motor vehicles. So, even the forms that are collected from the sub-counties are brought to Nairobi in buses. That is very risky and most of the times the forms get lost. It takes months or years for people to receive back their forms because most of the time they get lost. At times there are technical problems with fingerprints and taking them back to the constituency or subcounty takes ages.”