North Eastern Kenya has never had a college or a university since Independence, but DR ALI MAHAMUD is determined to change this. He spoke to KIUNDU WAWERU 

Since Independence, North Eastern Province has generated negative publicity due to droughts, cattle rustling and border conflicts. Also, whenever the results of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary and Primary Education are released, the region always performs poorly.

Images of pupils studying under trees because of lack of classrooms and other facilities, and young boys armed with firearms herding livestock characterise the dry plains.
However, a few people from this area have managed to break the shackles and are determined to wipe off this image.

They include Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Isaak Hassan, Mandera Central Member of Parliament Abdikadir Mohamed, and the publisher of Nairobi Law Monthly Ahmednasir Abdullahi.

There are many other North Easterners who are not as public, but who are equally successful and striving to give back to their deprived community. One such person is Dr Ali Mahamud, a soft-spoken and an unassuming man whose sheer determination and will saw him study in the US.

As soon as Ali set foot in this developed country, the massive disparity between the US and his community struck him. He determined to make a difference to his people.

mentorship programme
While in his first year at the University of Minnesota where he was studying Bachelor of Science in Human Physiology, Ali started his organisation, Generation for Change and Growth (GCG).  Through the organisation, Ali aggressively recruited teachers, community and health workers from the US, Australia, Canada and even in Africa, all who would leave the comfort of their homes, pay for their air tickets and travel to Kenya.

“The volunteers would land in Garissa, Wajir, Mandera and get hosted by local families for about three months,” says Ali, adding that they would teach in local schools or work at the health centres, depending on their background.

Growing up in Wajir, Ali realised that the government did little to change the education status in North Eastern.

“The non-governmental organisations could not help either, as they only responded to disaster. Only we, the people, who had gone through the system, can help our people,” he says.

Despite having high ambitions while in Mandera Secondary School, Ali remembers how he suffered due to an unfair education system.

“I loved sciences and Mathematics. The facilities were insufficient and we did not have enough Science teachers. Imagine I did not study Mathematics until I reached Form Three!” He exclaims, wondering how he was expected to compete with students from schools such as Alliance and Starehe Boys Centre, no matter how smart he was.

Ali says he worked very hard and managed to join the Kenya Medical Training College after which he went to the US to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree. He also pursued a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the same university and a Masters in Business Administration at Concordia University.

Ali is passionate about education because he counts himself lucky to have got a chance to join a university, forming the less than one per cent from his community who managed to do the same.

“We are creating a whole generation of disillusioned, disenfranchised and underprivileged youth. Basic free primary and secondary education don’t help much because many graduate with Es and Ds,” he says.

To add to the woes, the North Eastern people are largely pastoralists who over the years considered themselves rich because of their livestock. Due to the rampant droughts and rustling, however, residents are now struggling to adjust to new lifestyles, which they are ill prepared for.

“Their best bet is a sedentary lifestyle where youths while away in a stupor, chewing miraa.”
Ali says the situation calls for a concerted effort, especially in terms of provision of quality education.

Through GCG, Ali has created a mentorship programme comprising people from the North Eastern Province who have achieved in various fields despite the odds. Students get attached to mentors who guide them through education and other aspects  of growth and development.

tertiary institutions
Another of Ali’s passions is technology. He says while the rest of the world is connected to the Internet, most people from the North have never seen a computer. In 2009, Ali brought about 4000 ‘Alpha Smarts’ computers, which he distributed to all secondary and some primary schools in Wajir, Garissa and Mandera. Alpha Smarts, which are solar powered, are popular in European and American schools.

In 2010, GCG embarked on a new project. Since the area has no tertiary institutions, Ali targeted secondary school leavers who would form teams of three to ten and come up with projects such as metalwork or woodwork.

“We are trying to build skills and fight the dependency syndrome,” says Ali.
They acquired property in Wajir where the vocational trainings take place. GCG is laying groundwork at the same site for its biggest project yet — a university.

“Northern Kenya has a population of over four million. Each year, the region graduates over 15,000 students. Kenya’s public universities, all located elsewhere, absorb less than five per cent of the graduates. The rest are left out,” says Northern Kenya University Initiative (Norku), a document written by GCG.

“The government has for years promised to build a university in the region, but there are only a few constituent universities. 

“A 50-acre land has been acquired through a collaborative effort between the GCG, the Norku planning committee, the County Council of Wajir and the Regional Education Board of Wajir District,” he says

The consortium is also seeking partnership, sponsorship and support from local and international donors, organisations, universities, colleges and governments.