Ms Sophia Abdi Noor made history during the August 2017 General Election by becoming the first woman MP from Northern Kenya to be elected to the National Assembly.
However, it is interesting to note that there are several things you might not have known about Ijara MP, Ms Noor.
Some of them include the following.
1. She fights for women rights.
Ms Noor has dedicated her life to fighting for the rights of women in North Eastern region.
The MP who is a founder member of ‘Womankind Kenya’, a group that advocates for girls education and women issues has been forefront in fighting retrogressive cultural practices such as Female Genital Mutilations.
2. She lost when she first tried politics.
Ms Noor first tried politics by contesting in Ijara parliamentary seat in 1997 but she lost. She tried again in 2013 but again lost.
3. She’s a holder of a Master’s Degree.
The Ijara MP boasts a Master’s Degree in Management and Organizational Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Community Development Studies from Kimmmage Development Studies Centre in Ireland.
4. She has won different awards.
Ms Noor has received several awards which include, a social justice award from the International Leadership Institute in Minnesota, the International Democracy Fellowship from the Lees Aspen Center for Governance in Washington DC for her work in women’s empowerment and democratization in 1996.
She has also received the Father John Kaiser Human Rights Award of the Year in 2007 by the Law Society of Kenya.