Garissa Woman Rep Anab Gure on Friday vowed to soldier on and win the Fafi parliamentary seat that she is eyeing.
Speaking to the press in Bula Iftin after elders from the Rer Harun sub-clan presented her bid to the Abudwaq elders, Gure said she will not give up until she clinches the seat.
The ceremony was graced by Sultan Dekow Maalim Sambul Palace.
“Today I have been unanimously endorsed by the Harun family to contest for the Fafi Parliamentary seat in the forthcoming General Election,” she said.
Gure said going forward, the elders from the larger Abduwaq clan will now consider her bid and expressed optimism that she will be given the green light.
Last month, her clan also endorsed Salah Yakub, a former county executive in Nathif Jama’s administration, who was given the nod to fly the clans' flag in the ballot.
However, when asked about two candidates being endorsed by the same sub-clan and whether that would play into their opponent's hands, she was quick to dismiss it.
“It is annoying that the elders were hoodwinked into the trap to announce the said individual as the one picked by the people. If it’s about hosting six elders in one room, we can do that but our integrity can’t allow that. We’re beyond politics of deception. Our politics should be based on ideas, manifestos and development programmes for the people,” she said.
"Just to set the record clear, I am in the race for the Fafi parliamentary seat in the 2022 elections. Women leadership should never be looked down upon,” she said.
Gure said she will soon be rolling out a massive campaign to popularise her bid noting that her track record speaks for itself.
“I have left indelible footprints of development in the last four years which I believe will help me clinch the seat. We shall therefore continue the good work we have done by engaging with wananchi for a prosperous county,” she said.
Gure added: “My brothers who were jostled out should find some solace and work with me to ensure community’s needs are met. I welcome them to the hustler's train as we work to bring development and improve the lives of residents."
So far, Gure together with Ijara MP Sophia Abdi Noor, are the only women who have declared an interest in vying for MP seats in the area which largely votes for male candidates during elections.
-Edited by SKanyara