CEO KABALE; FROM A SHY VILLAGE GIRL TO AN ADORABLE NATIONAL LEADER
By Diba Kosi Bilinga
In the word of Nancy Pelosi who was the 52nd speaker of the United State House of Representative, "Women are leaders everywhere you look—from the CEO who runs a Fortune 500 company to the housewife who raises her children and heads her household. Our country was built by strong women, and we will continue to break down walls and defy stereotypes."
Contrary to the spirits and tonal projection whispered out in the last line of the above excerpt, for long, the road to women empowerment via equal access to education and other opportunities remains long, torturous and at a time bumpy for most of the women and girls from pastoralist communities in the northern and upper eastern region of Kenya.
But today, tides seems changing as some influential female voices and breakthrough in their line of profession give us hope that we’re headed in the right direction. Once literally abandoned and almost overlooked gender is nowadays aflame with new hope and aspiration as the news of women trailblazers flash and illuminate the otherwise a dark pastoralist female skies. This new tides are sweeping fast and furious occasionally resulting into liberation of some Women from the old aged male bigotry and patriarchy nature of most pastoralist community in the region.
True to the above, we have just witnessed another young and up shooting star which had shattered the glass ceiling and became the first Borana female CEO of the independent commission since independence.
Women from the pastoralist communities have battled many unforeseen cultural related challenges to make it in life and to reach the apex of their professional and career aspirations. It was a common happening and crystal clear to all and sundry that pastoralist girls and women have been oppressed by men who were at vantage position culturally in their factory setting of the male – dominion world among most communities inhabiting the upper eastern and northern part of our region.
The retrogressive cultural barriers and perceived stereotype toward female who are unfairly looked at as a lesser gender further chained down by religious dictate of women submissiveness to the opposite sex are just but some few factors among many others which never added well for female raised and brought up among pastoralist communities in the entire north.
The highlighted barriers had for long disadvantaged women not only in their career aspirations but as well in decision making foray including in leadership and management of families and community resources. Different folk’s tales and adages were fashioned and handed down through generations to justify the seniority and the place of the boy child including a glaring inaugural reception of the ‘baby boy’ with ululation accompanied by songs and dances that runs for some days championed by villagers contrary to cold reception of a ‘baby girl’ at birth.
This is the Borana Community in which Ms Kabale Tache Arero was born and raised. She was born to Tache Arero families of Mata Arba Location in Saku Constituency. She was the fourth born and the only daughter in a family of 7 and among the first lots of her siblings to be taken to school at a time when education was perceived as a preserved and a right for boy child but privilege for girl child. She attribute the decision of her being taken to school to her mother strong conviction who defied combined contrary plan held by her father and even her grandfather who innocently believed that education is ideal only for boys but not for girls for it can easily lead to some of an unethical practices such as prostitution.
Thus, courtesy of her mother, she began her formative study when she was enrolled at Manyatta Jillo Primary school in 1982 alongside one of her elder brother. While they were both subjected to prequalification for enrollment exercise on the first day at school, something interesting happened which was a prelude of the personality she will became in days to come – her elder brother was recommended to begin his study at nursery and she was placed at class one a step higher to that of her elder brother to amusement of many.
Her humble beginning further manifested itself in the fact that she walked to school barefooted most of the time in a makeshift classes in which she attended to her lessons from noon hours throughout her junior classes while undertaking house chores in the morning and at times being sent on errands to market to sell milk as a complement to source of livelihoods for her family.
She successfully completed her primary studies nonetheless and was admitted to Moi Girls High School. Unlike at the beginning, her dad had change of heart after realizing the pace, the passion and above all the discipline exuded by his daughter as she came of age and thus sold his only oxen to see her through admission process even though they cannot afford to see her through the high school on their own forcing her beloved mum to resort to vehement prayers days on ends.
She literally halted her studies due to lack of school fees were it not for the hand of the missionary which came through for her courtesy of a close family friend and a teacher Mr. Dominic Diba Galma. Fast forward, today Ms Kabale holds a Master Degrees in Business Administration from Kenyatta University and a Bachelor in the same field. She is a full Member of the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM) and Certified Human Resources Professional both by passion and practice and a sure role model for many pastoralist girls and women for years to come for bravely and progressively defying both societal and structural barriers and reaching the apex of her career ladder against all odds.
Borana, like other pastoralist communities in the northern Kenya, do perceived women/girls as a sub ordinate gender and above all as a low-hanging fruits to be cashed out at will as a source of income through dowry. During her time, an educated woman was seen through some suspicious lens by majority of the community members and for this reason most families do not give priority to girl’s education for they wrongly perceived them as 'an alien' who will be married off from tender age and thus their schooling is seen just as a waste of family resources.
Kabale's Passion for her study and determination to make her family life better were the hammer and vision which guided her through both high and low tides of her youthful life. It was this zeal and determination that eventually culminated into illustrious career which spans now more than 20 years in different organization. Today, she is the common household name because of unmatched contributions to her community and the nation.
The mother of four boys is happily married to Prof Shadrack Jirma, an expert in Business Administration, Corporate Communication and Strategic Management, whom she also acknowledged as a cornerstone that provided consistent support toward her success journey. Her career in public service began at Postbank decades ago before she switched over to Constitution Implementation Commission (CIC) and later to Nation Land Commission.
Nation Land Commision is a strategic land reform institution established by Articles 67 and 248 of the Constitution that, among other functions, manages public land on behalf of the national and county governments. It is also charged with resolving historical land injustices.
Ms Kabale was the Director of Human Resource Management & Administration at Nation Land Commission before her appointed as the acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on December 18, 2018 at a time when the commission was undergoing turbulence waves precipitated by the exit of its first commissioners and suspense surrounding the conduct of the commission top officials.
In her position as acting CEO, Ms Kabale was instrumental in the development and implementation of the Commission’s Strategic Plan 2021-2026 which currently guides the implementation of the Commission’s constitutional and statutory mandates.
She formally took over as the CEO of the National Land Commission (NLC) after she was sworn into office on June 19, 2023 in a colorful swearing in ceremony presided over by the Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya, Hon. Lady justice Philomena Mwilu after she emerged the best candidate among eight competitors shortlisted from the pool of applicants.
She promised to live by the words of former US President Harry Truman who said that; ‘It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit’’ She pride in her major milestones of seeing commission through smooth transition period and above all for reversing the negative image that engulfed the commission following the arrest and prosecution of its top management.
By the time the current commissioners reported, Ms Kabale had successfully diffused the tension and anxiety that had clouded the commission following the arrest and prosecution of some of its top officials, thus giving the new commission a stable footage for easy take off.
She also navigated and sailed the commission through a strange turbulent storm that caused tension and friction between them and their mother ministry of land under which their offices were domiciled by facilitating the commission to procured and moved into a new office space away from the Ardhi House in 2021 – a move she was strongly applauded for.
As a new CEO, Ms Kabale has singled out insufficient budget allocation as a major setback that the commission will battle it out with the right authority for realization of full implementation of its programs, projects and activities.
As I pen off, this is a clear testimony of what an educated girl is able to morphs into – a person of substance to herself, to her families, to her community and to her nation. Let this be a clerical call to all pastoralist communities on the matters surrounding giving equal access of education and other opportunities to both gender.
“Women need a seat at the table, they need an invitation to be seated there, and in some cases, where this is not available, they need to create their own table.” Meghan Markle.
By every definition, Madam CEO created her own table. The rumors of Political good will & support aside.
Mr. Bilinga is an Information Scientist, Peace & Security Advocate and a Teacher by profession. He is currently a Youth Mentor at YALI, East Africa – a signature project of the former USA President Barack Obama.