[Roselyn Akombe in a past event. She has done odd jobs before rising to powerful under-secretary in the UN. Photo/Nation]
When news about her resignation from electoral body IEBC was made public, Roselyne Akombe grabbed both local and international headlines, with critics and supporters terming the exit as ‘unprecedented’.
In her resignation statement, the outspoken commissioner accused a section of her colleague of serving political interests apart from citing death threats as the reasons for resignation.
Born in 1976 at Nyamira to an education officer, Akombe spent most of her early life in Kisii’s Mwembe suburb before her family settled in Kisumu.
Her desire to become a lawyer because she was inspired by senior counsel Jams Orengo was cut short when she failed to score enough points from Nyabururu Girls but she earned a space to study education in the University of Nairobi, Kikuyu Campus.
“When I got pregnant in third year of my study, I felt very embarrassed and a big letdown to my parents,” said the mother of two, when she was once interviewed by the Standard.
She would later get an opportunity to travel to US, where she first worked as a night guard before taking her daughter to school every morning.
“I used to work as a night guard security officer them in the morning I would take my daughter to school,” she recalled.
Later, Akombe would yet again pick a job to taking care of personas living with disability, a job which opened her space to the most lucrative organization in the world, the UN.
Three years on, a lucky Akombe was absorbed by a UN staffer, who offered her a one week job.
“It took a huge risk leaving a permanent job for just a one week assignment. I have not left the UN since,’ she revealed.
Before joining IEBC, Akombe took unpaid leave from UN where she works as an under –secretary, in what she termed as ‘desire’ to serve her country.
Akombe, who holds dual citizenship, holds PhD in Global Affairs from Rutgers University in the US and has since maintained that the October 26th polls in Kenya will not be free and fair.