Why ex-MP Naomi Shaban is eyeing Eala seat

As lobbying for the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) seats intensifies, former Taveta MP Naomi Shaban has also expressed interest in the race.

Dr Shaban is among 96 applicants from the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition fighting for the nine slots to represent Kenya in the legislative arm of the East Africa regional community.

The Kenya Kwanza Alliance will have five slots while the remaining four will be divided among the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Alliance candidates.

The East African Community (EAC) partner states are in the process of electing nine candidates each in the Arusha-based assembly.

The Eala treaty requires that the member states' election be held within 90 days before the expiry of the date of the outgoing Assembly. The five-year tenure of the Fourth Eala assembly is set to come to an end in December this year.

Speaking to Nation.Africa, Ms Shaban said she had submitted her application to the Senate and the National assembly ready to be nominated under her Jubilee party.

Two decades

Ms Shaban served as MP for four consecutive terms but lost in her bid to retain the seat during the last General Election. The veteran politician will be banking on her two decades experience to represent the country at the region's legislative assembly.

She claimed to be the most experienced among those who have submitted their applications and revealed that she has started lobbying for the seat.

"I have a vast experience of 20 years in Parliament that is why I highly qualify for this seat," she said.

Having joined Taita Taveta politics in 2001, Ms Shaban made her entry into Parliament in the 2002 General Election under the KANU party and has since dominated the Taveta politics until she was unseated in August.

Since she was first elected in 2002, she worked with both the late President Mwai Kibaki and President Uhuru Kenyatta in various national capacities.

She then became Kenya's Branch Representative of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association from 2003 to 2007.

In 2007 after winning for the second time, President Kibaki appointed her as the Minister for Special Programmes until 2010 when she was transferred to the Ministry of Gender and Children Affairs, a position she held until 2013.

Currently, she is the vice-chair of the Parliamentary Service Commission, a position she will hold until the new MPs select new members.

Male-dominated area

"I also served as the deputy majority leader of my party, Jubilee. I hope they will consider me for this post," she said.

At the National Assembly, she also served as a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Appointments, the House Business Committee and the Health Committee.

Coming from a patriarchal community that hardly believes in women's leadership, she has made history as the only woman MP in Taita Taveta and her zeal, she believes, has opened doors for women across the country to fight for their political space.

"Politics is a male-dominated area and we must fight for our space. I am confident that I will represent the country well in the regional assembly," she said.

As lobbying for the positions continues, both the Senate and the National assembly have already formed a joint committee to vet the nominees from their parliamentary political parties.

From the Jubilee party, Dr Shaban will face off with secretary general Jeremiah Kioni, Kanini Kega and eight others who are also eyeing the Eala slots.

The position has attracted 145 candidates from President William Ruto-led Kenya Kwanza Alliance.

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