Five things you did not know about Dr Roselyn Akombe

Early life

Roselyn Kwamboka Akombe was born November 21, 1976 in Nyamira County. Born to an education officer and a teacher, Dr Roselyn spent most of her early years in Mwembe Tayari, Kisii before her parents settled in Kisumu.

Education

She attended Nyabururu Girls High School in Kisii, and Joined the University of Nairobi to study Education, Literature and Linguistics where she graduated with honors in 1999 before going to the United States for further studies. She currently holds a Master of Science in Global Affairs in 2003 and a PhD of the same subject in 2005 from the Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Work

Roselyn worked as an Under-Secretary at the United Nations headquarters in New York, where she gained experience in electoral practices around the world before joining the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in January 2017. Reports have it that she took a pay cut of up to 70 percent when she move from the US to IEBC.

Personal Life

Dr Akombe says she got embarrassed and when she got pregnant in third year.

“When I got pregnant in third year of university, I felt I had embarrassed and let down my parents despite the sacrifices they had made for me. That humiliation gave me courage. I asked myself, ‘What kind of life am I going to give my daughter? That pushed and motivated me,” said Akombe.

Early ambitions

Roselyn desired to become a lawyer since she admired people like James Orengo and Martha Karua but did not make the cut for law school. She was instead admitted at the University of Nairobi’s Kikuyu Campus for an Education degree.