Mandera Speaker elected governor to succeed Roba
Mr Mohamed Adan Khalif, the governor elect for Mandera County flanked by his two wives Mrs Madina Mohamed Issack and Mrs Nastea Ibrahim on August 13, 2022. Mr Khalif polled 53,480.
Mandera County Assembly Speaker Mohamed Adan Khalif alias Mak has been elected to succeed Governor Ali Roba in the United Democratic Movement (UDM).
He polled 53,480 votes against his closest rival, former Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed who got 40,564 votes.
While thanking the electorate, Mr Khalif said he is equal to the task ahead and that he will serve the locals equally.
“I am humbled by the trust and the confidence you have placed in me and in our team. Our victory is your victory. Thank you for walking with us,” he said.
He urged his competitors to join him in developing the border Mandera County.
“I went into this election as candidate Mohamed Adan Khalif of the United Democratic Movement party but I pledge to work for all. I pledge to be a governor who seeks not to divide, but unify, who sees not UDM, ODM or Jubilee but Mandera,” he said.
Mr Khalif called for unity in Mandera after bruising political campaigns.
“I pledge to uproot the seeds of division and plant that of brotherhood. There are no losers nor winners. The one with the best ideas for our county was given the mantle to lead. I am a leader, not a winner,” he said.
Mandera Governor Ali Roba after being declared new Mandera Senator.
Khalif, 53, has been the Mandera County Assembly Speaker since 2017 before being endorsed by Mr Roba as his successor.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the Kampala University in Uganda attained in December 2011.
Between April and December 2008, he attended the same university for pre-university education.
He was admitted at the prestigious Maseno High School in 1988 but dropped out in 1990 due to health complications.
Between March and November 2003, he registered as a private student at Sheikh Ali High School in Mandera North where he sat his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
He attended Elwak DEB between 1979 and 1987 for his primary education.
For two months in 2009, he was trained in local authority and internal audit guidelines by the Association of Local Government Authorities of Kenya.
In 2005, he founded Frontier Engineering Limited, a company that was awarded a Sh1.2 billion contract to tarmac a 12km road in Mandera town.
Mrs Umulkheir Kassaim on August 13, 2022. She is the new Mandera county Woman Rep after polling 61,010 votes.
The company has won a number of contracts from the Kenya Urban Roads Authorities (KURA) to tarmac feeder roads in Mandera town.
Mr Khalif says he resigned as the company Managing Director in 2017 after being elected as the local assembly Speaker.
He was elected Mandera Township councillor in 1998 and became the Town council Chairman in 2008 until 2013 at the advent of devolution.
He has been on management boards of a number of secondary schools in Mandera including Barwako and Moi Girls.
He ventured into business in 1993 when he started Frontier Bookmen, a business entity that specialised in supplying books and other learning materials in Mandera.
He says his election as Mandera County Assembly Speaker gave him an opportunity to understand the legislative role under the constitution.
Despite being ridiculed by his opponents over his academic achievements, Mr Khalif maintains that he is not an academic dwarf and that leadership is never pegged on degrees.
He becomes the second Mandera governor, succeeding Mr Roba who has done his two constitutional terms.
Mr Roba now moves to the senate to oversee Mr Khalif who has a budget of Sh11 billion from the exchequer.
Mr Roba who is the UDM boss has been elected Mandera Senator.
