The refugee girl who rose to become UNSA president

Leaving home for an unknown destination, unfamiliar people and an uncertain future is a predicament that most of us have never had to contend with.

However, for a lorry full of South Sudanese refugees fleeing a war-torn country in 2008, leaving the familiar behind was their only hope. Seated atop empty crates of soda in the crammed lorry was 10-year-old Monicah Nyareng’ Malith.

The previous week, Monicah was the favourite daughter of a pastoralist, but on that day, she was a refugee on a 500-kilometre journey from Juba, South Sudan, to one of the largest refugee camps in Africa: Kakuma.

Today, Ms Malith is one of the most influential young women in Kenya. She is the president of the University of Nairobi Students Association (UNSA), a council that serves about 70,000 students across six colleges and 13 campuses. She is also the first international student and female refugee to clinch the highly coveted position.

“I was born and raised in a nomadic pastoralist community in South Sudan. I never knew that there was a world that existed around me apart from what I knew. Looking back, there were a lot of difficulties but I never saw them as challenges because that was all I knew.

"I never thought of school because I knew I would get married and live a normal life in the cattle camp," she said during an exclusive interview with Nation.Africa.

Civil war

The decision to leave home was heavily influenced by the civil war that was taking place in the then Sudan. In 2008, there was heavy fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) for Abyei town, an oil-rich area on the north-south divide. According to Human Rights Watch, about 60,000 people fled during and after the dispute.

This was around the time that Ms Malith, her aunt, brother and cousin fled the country for Kenya. Though it would be far from home, they knew a new country offered security and the possibility of acquiring education. Being a nomadic pastoralist, her father could not accompany them to Kenya so he stayed behind with his wife.

“When I left South Sudan, my father cried. I was his favourite child and he used to affectionately refer to me as nyaneng’eh (favourite). I was his most hardworking child and he was reluctant to let go of me. He did not want me to come to Kenya because he thought he would lose me forever."

Her father was also sceptical about educating his favourite daughter. The UNSA president explains that back then, there was a stereotype that education misled people. But as fate would have it, Ms Malith still left home.

Once they arrived at Kakuma, their aunt quickly relocated them to Eldoret where they began their new life.

“I remember arriving in Eldoret very well. It was on a Sunday, July 14, 2008. My brother and cousin were enrolled in Central Primary School a few months after our arrival while I stayed home.

"In the Dinka community, only girls do the cooking. This meant that I had to remain at home to help my aunt. My brother would always tell me about his studies whenever he came home, which made me want to go to school."

Primary education

The following year, her aunt finally enrolled her in Standard One (now Grade One). She had never received any formal education.

"At the time, I was 11 and the only thing I knew was how to respond when asked what my name is. I went to class and sat beside a South Sudanese pupil who would translate to me what the teacher was teaching."

With extra tuition from her teacher and friends, Monicah was able to catch up with her classmates and even topped her class that year. Encouraged by her results, the school awarded her a full sponsorship for her primary education. Since she was older than most pupils and at times covered two classes at a go.

"I would wake up as early as 4am to cover the syllabus of a previous class while my teachers would take me through the class I was enrolled in. When I sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary School Education exam, I scored 402 marks and got admission to Butere Girls' High School."

Despite her remarkable performance, she had to go to a day school because her parents could not afford to pay her school fees. She convinced her mother to take her brother to a national school, Nakuru Boys High School, while she attended a day school.

Luckily, the Director Anestar Group of Schools, Victor Gatimu gave her a full scholarship to study at Anestar Precious Girls. Due to her excellent academic records and leadership skills when she was head girl at the school, Mr Gatimu even offered to give five slots each year to needy South Sudanese children on her recommendation.

“I felt it was my responsibility to take care of my fellow South Sudanese in a foreign land. Even in school, I organised the Anestar Schools South Sudanese Association that used to contribute money for needy students in the association and the director, Mr Gatimu, would supplement our contributions."

She eventually joined the University of Nairobi (UoN) to study law after scoring a B- in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary School Education exam. It was on Parklands Campus that she joined politics. At first, she was elected as the International Student Representative while in her second year.

She says former UNSA president Melvin Thogo and the chairperson of the UNSA Independent Electoral Commission, Prof Collins Odote, inspired her to consider vying for president despite being a foreign student.

Also read: The rise and rise of young women to student leadership

"There was a perception that only Kenyans at the university could lead. When I announced my candidature, a lot of students came out to openly oppose me. 'How can we as Kenyans elect a foreigner? Why would Kenyans give out their birthright?’ they would question."

When they failed to discredit her candidature on the basis of her status as an international student, they changed tack to taint her image.

“They tried digging up dirt in my personal life and trying to find out if I had been in any 'questionable relationships' that would paint me as an immoral person. But I don't even have a boyfriend at the university, so that did not work."

Although she won the election with 25 delegate votes against her opponents Team Gonda (eight votes) and Team Soi (six votes), her campaign journey was marred by many challenges.

"I was so emotional when I won because it has not been easy. Being the largest university in Kenya, UNSA politics is also influenced by national political parties that I was not affiliated to. I am also quite straightforward and firm, and that makes me rub some people the wrong way."

Negative comments

Ms Malith adds that even her family back home did not approve of her candidature. “I called my relatives to inform them I was vying and even posted on my Facebook page. However, I received a lot of negative comments. My own mother asked me why I was competing with men in a foreign country and was worried for my safety."

Some of her uncles even tried to arrange a marriage for her. “It’s just like when you find beautiful flowers growing and you just want to pick one that you like,’’ she explains.

“Whenever I would go to church, a South Sudanese congregant would try to introduce me to their uncles or brothers. I even stopped attending South Sudanese public events because there was always someone trying to arrange a marriage for me."

Another challenge that Ms Malith faced was financing her campaign. "I tried calling some people to support me, but they felt that their money would go to waste because they thought I could not win. I had to use my own rent, part of my school fees, allowances and contributions from close friends."

Other people thought that she had received financing from the South Sudanese Embassy and UNHCR so they tried to extort money from her.

“Someone asked me to pay them Sh80,000 for publicity, but I refused because I could not afford to pay them that much. They retaliated by trying to get my teammates to drop out of the elections."

As for her new role as the fifth UNSA president, the 24-year-old says she wants to instil value-based leadership.

"The first pillar of my leadership is integrity because when you are dealing with people and resources, you have to be accountable. The other pillars are inclusion and innovation because being in university is about accessing opportunities for all people. I am also keen on ensuring bursaries are allocated to genuinely needy students."

Ms Malith also says her leadership style would be diplomatic so that student strikes do not take place during her tenure. Because she is studying law, she hopes to contribute to growing South Sudan’s legal system after she is done with school.

“‘Living far away from home has been challenging, but I still consider myself as privileged. Apart from serving the student body, every year I go back to my country to mentor girls and encourage them. I want to show them that nothing is impossible."

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