Dr. Roselyn Akombe, former commissioner of the embattled IEBC. [Photo/www.iebc.co.ke]
In a twisted world where traditional conventions and ideals are being trampled upon with impunity, where dishonesty is promoted as a virtue, where slay queens hijack our national discourse, where hard work is not being recognized for its worth, where the looting of public coffers has been elevated to a national past time, where the moral fabric is being destroyed, Dr. Roselyn Akombe becomes my heroine.
She’s my secret crush.
I am aware that this is an utterly crazy thing to say but, hey, I have a million reasons to admire the princess with a golden heart and nerves of steel.
I have studied the humble lady, who has blown my mind with her soft-spoken eloquence, with growing interest.
Unlike many public figures who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths, Akombe’s trajectory to the top is not a gilded one.
Far from it, her story is filled with blood, sweat, tears and humiliation.
It is the story of a girl from the banana-rich Nyamira county who struggled through a hardscrabble existence; a girl who kept hope alive in spite of the impossible odds stacked up against her.
A validation of hardwork that proves that to make it in life, a girl doesn’t have to engage in shameless self-promotion on social media in the hope that an old sponsor will get impressed.
‘’When I got pregnant in third year of university, I felt embarrassed and let down my parents despite the sacrifices they had made for me. That humiliation gave me courage. I asked myself,’’ What kind of life am I going to give my daughter? That pushed me and motivated me.’’ Akombe told ‘’ The Nairobian in a recent interview.
She pursued education with missionary zeal while doing casual jobs like being a night guard and looking after disabled, hoping that one day her star would glow.
Her story humanizes her.
It has the power to bring tears to the eyes of even her most hardened critics who are overworking to tarnish her image.
To be sure, she is not an angel but she’s neither the devil that her detractors want us to believe she is.
I have watched with a heavy heart and tears in my eyes as misguided propagandists have turned her into a punching bag, and bashed her on social media with total impunity.
Recently, Akombe hit global headlines following her dramatic resignation from the embattled IEBC, a twist in a fast-moving political drama whose plot thickens by the day.
The move, which has attracted criticism and praise, was in her own words, prompted by her conscience.
Without debating and interrogating the facts of her resignation, I wish to state that Dr. Akombe has earned my admiration for being an embodiment of ideals that our world today is in short supply of.
I look forward to that blessed day when I shall invite her for a glass of brandy, or milk, whatever she likes, and together we shall drink like Dracula drank blood in Transylvania.
May be that will be the day the gods will smile on me and I shall say goodbye to the punishing cold of bachelorhood.
The cold-hearted slay queens who broke my heart will watch in pain and wished that they could turn back the hands of time but it shall be too late.
In the meantime, I will work to convince my crush who butchered my weekend by savagely rejecting my romantic advances to reconsider her position.