Sons and daughters of Lamu

Abdulghafur El-Busaidy… is national chairman of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims and was previously a senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi’s, department of chemistry.

Prof Abdulghafur was born and raised in Lamu and began teaching in local schools before moving abroad for his university education.

Sheikh Ahmed Nabhan… is a distinguished Kiswahili scholar, highly regarded as a visiting professor in universities in the US and Germany.

Prof Nabhan studied Islam in Lamu and learnt poetry from his grandmother. He was educated privately in Mombasa.

Eliud Kinuthia… from Mpeketoni, he is the coordinator of the police reforms implementation committee in the Office of the President. Mr Kinuthia spearheaded public sector reforms and performance management while in the Office of the Prime Minister and is a lead consultant for the United Nations Human Development Report and secretary of the Lamu West professional forum.

Mr Kinuthia attended Uziwani primary school and Mpeketoni secondary, then studied education at the University of Nairobi, majoring in statistics before taking a master’s, also at Nairobi, in development studies.

Ahmed Yassin… a member of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission, Dr Yassin is a former director of the Research Institute of Swahili Studies of Eastern Africa.

Born in Chundwa village, Lamu East, he joined the local primary school and went for his O and A-levels at Khamis High School in Mombasa before completing a post-graduate education degree at Birmingham University and his doctorate at London University’s school of Oriental and African Studies.

Amina Sudi… the current Coast regional electoral coordinator with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Mrs Sudi was born on Lamu Island and joined Matuga Girls and Star of the Sea high schools for O and A level studies.

With a bachelor of science degree from the University of Nairobi and a master’s from Yale, she worked with the Coast Development Authority, the Kenya Red Cross Society and the now defunct Pan African Bank.

Rishad Hamid Amana… is a seaman and former chairman of the Seafarers Union of Kenya.

He then entered politics and was elected as Ford Asili’s Coast regional coordinator before switching to the Democratic Party of Kenya (DP) of which he is now national vice chairman.

He is also national chairman of Muslim Youth of Kenya. Born in Mokowe village, he went to the local primary before Lamu Boys and Khamis High.

Abdu Godana Dae… is Lamu branch manager for Kenya Commercial Bank. From Dideworide village, Witu, Mr Dae studied at Dideworide primary school and later Tarasaa and Shimo La Tewa high schools before going to Kenyatta University for his bachelor’s degree in commerce and a master’s in business administration.

Rayya Timmamy… a senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Dr Timmamy was born and raised on Lamu Island, attending Lamu primary school then Aga Khan high school and Coast Girls high school before taking her bachelor’s degree at Kenyatta University and a master’s in linguistics at the University of Nairobi.

Mohamed Alawi Hussun… is a lawyer from Witu, recently appointed a commissioner of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

He worked as a legal officer at Kenya Ports Authority holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in law, specialising in maritime law.

Lucas Kamau Muthema… is a lead economist at the Central Bank of Kenya. Dr Muthema went to Lake Kenyatta school and Tarasaa high then Kenyatta University for his first university degree, the University of Nairobi for his master’s and Dar es Salaam University in Tanzania for his doctorate.