"I was lucky that my track record spoke for itself. I had worked. As a nominated senator, I had been mentoring and educating girls. Despite that, people were like, 'How can we be led by a girl in a war-torn constituency? How will you defend us?' Now, during election campaigns, some said, 'You are now married (in Baringo), so why not go run in Baringo?' I made this a non-issue. It is about the work you do," says Lesuuda.
Former beauty queen Hezena Lemaletian, popularly known as Queen of the North, had aspirations for the Samburu County Woman Representative seat.
In 2020, Lemaletian became the first Miss Tourism from Samburu County and also won the Miss Commonwealth title in 2021, but she said in an interview with KTN that she decided to get into politics to have a platform to advocate for her people.
"I am driven by their suffering. That is what is motivating me, and most importantly, politics is inevitable. Politics influences our way of life," she said. However, she ended up issuing a statement saying that she would be dropping her bid.
"After thorough consultations with my party leader Raila Odinga and the elders, I have decided to withdraw from the race for the Samburu County Woman Representative in the forthcoming 2022 elections," she said.
And come this month, she was nominated as senator.
"I did not see it coming, it caught me by surprise. I am still healing from the shock, particularly thinking of the village I come from, but I am very much elated and honoured because I think I will do even better in the Senate given that I am sort of an activist and this is the house where we do oversight," she said.
Popular musician, Crystal Asige, is also climbing the same ladder.
With most Kenyans having discovered her sultry voice from Sauti Sol's Extravaganza, the former Sol Generation member has now embraced politician tag after she was listed as a nominee to the Senate to represent persons with disabilities.
"I consider this Senate nomination by Baba and ODM an honour and a win for the communities I represent. It is a win for persons with disabilities, a win for women, and a win for the youth in Kenya," she wrote.
Also on the list is Karen Nyamu, an advocate of the High Court who vied for the Nairobi Woman Representative seat in 2017. She is now the UDA party youth representative in the Senate.
"The political space involves asserting yourself. There are no godfathers like people believe. As you have seen, the people who depend on endorsements and godfathers do not go far," she once said in an interview.