Raila held my hand to Parliament

Even while a student still at Alliance Girls High School, Nominated Member of Parliament Umulkher Harun, harboured dreams of becoming a legislator, though the path to such a destiny remained unclear.

Five years later, after completing her high school education studies in 2014, she volunteered to participate in ‘Miss President’, a reality TV show that aired on a local TV station. The show gave more than 1,000 women contestants a chance to debate national issues, showcase their leadership abilities, and be voted for by viewers.

Umulkher emerged as the first runner-up, behind the winner Nereah Amondi Oketch, former nominated Member of County Assembly from Homa Bay County.

It is during the live shooting of one of the episodes, that Umulkher spotted Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin Sifuna in the audience. She approached him and expressed her intention to join the party.

“Mr Sifuna (Nairobi Senator) asked me to visit the party offices. I visited a few months later and officially registered as a member of the party.

“When Azimio la Umoja Presidential candidate Raila Odinga started traversing the country in 2021, he quickly pinpointed Umulkher's leadership skills when he took his campaigns to Garissa County.

Youth function

“Mr Odinga visited Garissa County to meet with the youth. I attended the meeting, where I was picked to speak on behalf of the youth at the function. After the event, the former Prime Minister asked me to work in his campaign secretariat because he realised I had a deep understanding of the issues affecting the community in the North Eastern region. My organisation, Kesho Alliance – which focuses on empowering youth through education, peacebuilding, and leadership – had equipped me with understanding the issues within my county," she says.

Read also: How Umulkher Harun earned nomination to Parliament

She stepped down from the organisation and moved to Nairobi to officially work at the secretariat in December 2021.

“I remember sending a text message to my dad, informing him that I was in Naivasha for a high-level retreat. He was surprised. I was seated with people I had only ever seen on TV,” says Umulkher, an alumna of Hulugho Primary School, situated at the Kenya-Somalia border.

When she joined Azimio la Umoja presidential secretariat, Umulkher became part of the core team that planned and implemented campaign strategies for Azimio.

“I participated in meetings and proposed strategies to deploy for the campaigns. I canvased nearly the entire country, managing the campaigns and playing a key role on the communications team. Despite the challenges, the leadership appreciated my hard work,” she adds.

That played a critical role in her nomination to parliament. Umulkher, 27, has been vocal on matters of education in Parliament and is currently sponsoring the Kenya Sign Language Bill, 2023 that seeks to mainstream sign language and integrate it into the school curriculum.

The first term MP says, despite being a national language alongside English and Swahili, sign language has been relegated as a third wheel.

“The constitution recognises three languages; English, Swahili and the Kenya Sign Language. However, only English and Swahili are taught in our schools. Therefore, the first segment of the bill addresses incorporating sign language into our education system and making it compulsory,” she says.

Government statistics shows that about 800,000 Kenyans have one form of hearing impairment or another. The Kenya Institute of Special Education has been considering the idea of incorporating sign language into the curriculum to facilitate the integration of the deaf community with the broader society, ensuring they have equal opportunities like everyone else.

“We are dealing with over a million deaf people. That is not a small number, which is why we want sign language made compulsory,” she says.

The Computer Information Systems graduate, from Kenya Methodist University, asserts that she has acquired substantial experience in politics and plans to run for an elective seat in 2027.

"I didn't run for office in 2022 because I was still young. These factors often come into play when you express interest in any position. In Garissa, where I'm from, politics tends to be locally oriented. I have now gained adequate experience, and I'm committed to being on the ballot in 2027. For the time being, my focus is on representing the youth and delivering for my party, ODM," she states.

Supportive family

I equally now have a family with a very supportive husband and parents who keep pushing me to do well at my job. Oftentimes, politics and running a family are difficult but for me, I am grateful that my partner is very supportive. Umulkher fondly recalls the day she joked to her mother, a decade ago, that she would become the first occupant of Bunge Towers when the building was being constructed.

“When Bunge Towers was being constructed, I was in high school, I would pass here as I go to Kikuyu. There is a day I told my mum that I will sit in this office when it’s done and coincidentally, the first allocations of offices was done when we were sworn in,” she says.

“I tell the youths that power is taken, not given. Nothing comes easy and you only need yourself to create that space because it’s an ocean full of sharks. Nobody wants youth. Everybody describes them passionately in their agenda, their manifestos, but when it comes to the reality, nobody cares about youths. So, you have yourself to create that space, don’t wait for anybody. If you want to run for office do it.”

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