Sophia Abdi Noor of PDR Party has made history as the first ever elected female Member of Parliament from North Eastern. Noor clinched the Ijara constituency parliamentary seat in Isiolo County after outdoing her closest rival incumbent Ahmed Ibrahim Abass with nearly 300 votes.
She garnered 6, 001 votes to Abass’s 5705 votes.
For decades, many communities living in the North Eastern have held conservative views based on their religion and culture on women leadership. No woman has ever won an elective position since Kenya’s independence in the region.
Other candidates in the Ijara MP race were Abdi Aden Korio (Wiper) got 5141 votes, Muktar Bulale (Labour) who garnered 488, and Abdikadir Ibrahim (Kanu) who polled 109 votes.
Noor is a founder member of ‘Womankind Kenya’, a group that champions for girls education and women issues in the region.
She became the first nominated woman to parliament by the Orange Democratic Movement in 2007 from NE.
The former teacher has dedicated her life to championing for the rights of women in the northern region of Kenya and has led an aggressive campaign against retrogressive cultural practices such as Female Genital Mutilations.
She made her debut in politics by contesting in Ijara parliamentary seat in 1997, but lost to Mohamed Dahir Weyrah. She vied again in 2013 on a URP ticket but again lost to Abass.
