President Ruto honours three Marsabit residents

The first winner of the prestigious Aster Guardian Global Nursing Award in May, Anna Qabale Duba was among the more than 200 Kenyans feted by President William Ruto during Mashujaa Day on Thursday.

Addressing the public at Moi Girls Secondary School, Marsabit County Commissioner Paul Rotich broke the news that Ms Qabale and two other residents were feted by the Head of State for their sterling contributions to the society.

“We are very proud of three residents of this county who have been feted by the Head of State for their outstanding contributions towards transforming the society and we urge others to follow their footsteps,” Mr Rotich said.

He commended sacrifices made by the three to transform Marsabit County and Kenya as a whole.

Also feted were Marsabit Women Advocacy and Development Organisation (MWADO) CEO and human rights activist Nuriah Golloh and Moyale peace ambassador Mohammed Nur who played a critical role in pacifying the warring communities during conflict that led to death of more than 100 persons and displacement of 3,000 others after the 2013 elections.

Mr Rotich called on residents to follow the footsteps of the three and get involved in constructive and informative activities that could uplift lives.

Similar rallying calls were made by Governor Mohamud Ali who heaped praises on the three residents for their outstanding contributions towards making a better society.

“Our county has always hit headlines for the only wrong reasons but today we are very glad things are changing and our people are being recognized for their constructive contributions to the region and Kenya as a whole,” Governor Ali said.

Ms Qabale put Kenya on the global map when she bagged a whopping Sh25 million (USD 250,000) after seeing off nine other finalists in Dubai in May 2022.

Nominee nurses

She was selected by an eminent grand jury among the initial 24, 000 nominee nurses worldwide before being shortlisted among the 10 finalists.

She emerged the prize-winner among prominent participants, some of whom were far more experienced and highly educated than her.

She was feted in Dubai at a ceremony held in commemoration of International Nurses Day.

Aster Guardian International Nursing Award was founded in 2021 to acknowledge the resolute and selfless humanitarian care extended by nurses worldwide.

Ms Qabale emerged the winner among other nominees after impressively appealing to the eminent grand jury for selflessly dedicating her life in service to the needy girls in Marsabit county.

She has attributed her success to hard work, patience, and support from her county.

She is hopeful that she would become an ambassador for all-girl child education not only in Marsabit but in Africa as a whole.

Ms Qabale was the first Miss Tourism Marsabit County, Miss Tourism Kenya Peace, and Miss Tourism Kenya Investment 2013/2014.

During her tenure as Miss Marsabit County, she invested her energies in improving menstrual hygiene and education in the area.

She is the founder of the Qabale Duba Foundation - PAPA Project, a project initiated to equip girls with sanitary towels and panties, to enable them to concentrate on their studies.

She helps girls from needy backgrounds avoid skipping classes during their menses by providing them sanitary towels and panties.

The project which has benefitted more than 3,000 girls since its inception has also lifted the burden off the shoulders of many poor parents.

She says on average, a girl is absent from school due to menses for four days in a month and loses 288 lessons in a calendar year translating to 192 hours of missed learning due to absence from school.

MWADO CEO Nuria Golloh has been known to the residents as the voice of voiceless women and girls after she chose to put her life on the line to push for women’s representation and empowerment.

Ms Golloh, 55, a former primary school teacher, has been a prominent voice in the fight for more intersectional feminism after she resolved to wade through the murky waters of male chauvinism in the region. 

Despite the odds stacked against her, in the 20 years of activism and human rights advocacy, she has weathered all the storms to emerge as an icon and one of the toughest women in the 

Ms Golloh’s undeniable passion for justice, pro-gender equality and women rights agenda was inspired by her harrowing life experience when she was married off at the age of 16.

Thanks to Mwado, huge leaps for female education and advocacy have been made, with five other women and four men joining her in the fight against the age-old injustices perpetrated against girls and women.

Defilement, gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, and early child marriage cases have been brought to the fore, the offenders brought to book, girls rescued and taken to rescue centres.

Ms Golloh has not been without controversies: She has faced widespread criticism of ‘promoting marriage break ups’ by encouraging women and girls to dishonour men and eroding the society's moral fabrics.

Children's department

For instance, a mob nearly lynched her when she, in the company of the county children’s department coordinator, went to rescue a young girl who was married off by her parents.

Many times, she felt like throwing in the towel due to lack of cooperation from the law enforcement agencies and the Judiciary - they are sometimes bribed to let go of defilers, wife batterers or men who marry young girls.

On December 12, 2017, she was awarded a Head of State Commendation (HSC) by President Uhuru Kenyatta for her selfless struggles for humanity.

Between 2015 and 2017, she was nominated as the county Shujaa and represented her people during the Mashujaa Day celebration at the national level.

She also got feted with an Inspiration Women Award by the Ministry of Gender in 2015 and currently serves in the National Council for Children Services Board as a member.

She ran for the Saku Constituency Member of Parliament seat in the last general election and was trounced by Hon Raso Dido.

National Cohesion

Mzee Mohammed Nur has always received praise from the former National Cohesion and Integration Commissioner (NCIC) Chairperson Francis Ole Kaparo for initiating talks and bringing the heads of all community elders together at a time when different ethnic communities in the region did not want to see eye to eye.

As a result of his initiative, Moyale sub-county silenced the guns and swore never again to get dragged into inter-tribal killings.

During a previous interview with Nation.Africa, Mzee Nur narrated how he forced community elders to intermingle in seven buses that had been hired to ferry them to a peace meeting in Nairobi.

During that time, the members of the Gabbra and Borana community did not want to see each other eye to eye, let alone sitting together.

He said that was the most difficult test he ever passed in his life after he forced the archrival communities to sit. travel, talk and even eat together.