I am equal to the task

Asha Mohammed was shocked when her grandmother dropped the bombshell that she would be married off moments after sitting for her Certificate of primary Education (CPE) IN 1978.
She emerged as top student at Lang’ata West Primary School, Nairobi and her dream was to join high school. Marriage was the last thing on her mind at that tender age. Her dream was to become a medical doctor.
Her grandmother’s decision had been perpetuated by a mix-up in Ms Mohamed’s Form One admission where instead of her being admitted to her school of choice Limuru Girls High School, she was admitted to Starehe Boys Centre – a boys’ school.
“My grandmother said I should forget about joining high school as a result of the mix-up. I wanted to go to school. The world came crushing on me,” says Asha.
A man from Yemen had already been identified as her would be husband.

KIBRA SLUMS

The mother of two who was born and brought up in the sprawling Kibra slums, Nairobi, cried for days over her granny’s unwelcome plan. No amount of begging yielded fruits as the pleas fell on deaf ears of her granny.
It, however, took the intervention of her father and the head teacher of her primary school to seek a solution in the Form One admission mix up.
Fortunately, she got the chance to either join Limuru Girls High School or Moi Girls - Nairobi. She chose the latter where she school from form one to form six.
After her secondary education, she worked briefly as a clerk at a hardware shop in Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate, then as an untrained teacher at her former primary school.
She later joined University of Nairobi (UON) for a Bachelor of Science degree in Dental Surgery and later a Master’s degree in Public Health at the same institution in 1997.
She holds another Master’s degree in International Executive Management from University of Lancaster in United Kingdom (UK).
After graduating with her first degree in 1990, she worked with the Ministry of Health and National Aids Control Council where she served in different capacities before joining Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) in 2012, as health director

HEADING RED CROSS

The Nubian girl who braced a tough upbringing in Kibra is the new Secretary General (SG) at KRCS.
Her tenure at the helm of the prestigious humanitarian organisation started in January, replacing the long serving Abas Gullet.
Being the SG means she is the chief executive of the humanitarian agency that has played a major role in assisting Kenyans during disasters.
Prior to her appointment, she served as Deputy Secretary General and Head of Programs at KRCS.
She previously served in different capacities within the Red Cross and Red Crescent (RCRC) as Head of Operations for International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Africa Zone office in Johannesburg, being in charge of 49 countries and head of Eastern Africa zone office in Nairobi.
Between 2015 and 2018, she served as the Movement Partnerships advisor for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva Switzerland.

EQUAL TO TASK

Ms Mohammed also served as chairperson of the IFRC Health Commission at global level and a chair of the RCRC Pan African Coordination team responsible for monitoring commitments made by African national societies.
In August 2018, she came back to the KRCS and continued as the Deputy Secretary General and Head of Programs until June 2019, when ICRC asked her to become KRCS secretary general effective January this year.
She is happy with her new appointment saying even though it is challenging, she is equal to the task.
“I have taken the job with stride and see it as an opportunity that is a win not only for me, but for many other girls and women in the country,” she says.
She says her vision is to lead a people centric organisation that considers people as the most important resource for any humanitarian cause.

She hopes to see the organisation facilitate, enable and empower ordinary people to be responders during emergencies.
To achieve this, Ms Mohammed reveals they have started to strengthen all branches by offering capacity building to the 160,000 volunteers and 500 employees countrywide.
The volunteers and staff will then train locals in things like giving first aid and emergency response, among others.
“We want to do capacity building, training and impart skills and knowledge to people in regions prone to disasters so that they can offer assistance to themselves, and others before any help can come,” she says.
The SG reveals that staff training is ongoing in all departments to make them responders in time of emergencies.

RESOURCES

She, however, says lack of enough resources has worsened with reduced donor funding, making it difficult for the humanitarian body to work efficiently.
She plans on putting up an ambitious program that will stress on the use of innovation and technology to reduce cost and maximize efficiency.

This they plan to achieve through partnerships with individuals and other organisations to enhance their humanitarian work.
On the question of accountability and allegations of embezzlement of funds that has in the past dogged the organisation, the new executive is hesitant to dive into the matter.
She, however, says there could have been a lot of misinformation about the 'Kenya for Kenyans' program as a result of inadequate communication in and out of the organisation.
Ms Mohammed downplays fund embezzlement claims saying if that was the case, many donors who still fund the organisation, would have stopped doing so.
She says they are strengthening systems that will see the organisation become more transparent and accountable.

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

The dental surgeon who is passionate about women, girls and youth empowerment says she is driven by the desire to make a change and inspire other women to aspire for their dreams.
By excluding women from leadership, Ms Mohammed says Kenya and Africa loses an important resource.
“We ought to give women more leadership opportunities. The notion that this is a man’s world should stop,” she says.
She, however, asks women to take up new challenges adding that fear of failure is the major undoing facing women today.
“If you take a challenge and fail, you learn a lesson from that and do better next time...It does not matter where you come from, with passion, hard work and determination, you can become whatever you want to be in life,” she says.

MEN'S SUPPORT

She implores on men to support women in their lives to realise their dreams and advance in their careers. She says she has been lucky to have a father, husband and brothers who have been supportive in her career journey.
The SG says it is her wish to leave KRCS a movement comprising a network of Kenyans at all levels.
She adds that her goal is to see a scenario where apart from giving money to the organization, Kenyans and other people of goodwill will offer human resource capital and other expertise during emergencies and calamities.
“We are seeking to have professional volunteers and will be seeking to have young people become members.”
In recognition of her work in the humanitarian sector, Asha was in 2017, awarded the Humanitarian Healthcare Leader of the Year – Africa in Women in Health Awards.
In 2019, she received the East African Nubian Community Service award.