Cecilia Asinyen: From a leaky hut to the august House

Every step Ms Cecilia Asinyen Ng’itit makes past the gates of Parliament, she can only think of one thing–grace.

Although she exhibited leadership skills at a young age when she served as a class prefect from Form One and later student leader at Turkana Girls High School, the Turkana Woman Representative never imagined that one day she would end up as a legislator.

Ms Asinyen, a member of Energy and Petroleum, and Special Funds committees in Parliament, has recently been vocal about banditry in Kenya’s north. According to her, the ongoing ‘Operation Maliza Uhalifu North Rift’ aiming at flushing out bandits from their hideouts is ineffective.

The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), police reservists, the Rapid Deployment Unit, the Anti-Stock Theft Unit and the General Service Unit are involved.

Take on banditry

“I want the operation to be real and result-oriented. It is disheartening that bandits are still running the show despite the ongoing operation. It is clear that the operation is disjointed; KDF cannot take orders from the police and vice versa,” she says, adding the operation should be led by either KDF or the police, not both.

“Banditry has affected women and children. We are losing lives and property. It is sad that after almost 60 years of independence, Turkana women and children still suffer at the hands of bandits.

"Recently, women and children were set on fire by bandits while sleeping in their houses at night. In fact, banditry should be declared a national disaster.”

She says the situation is dire as the bandits have changed tack and now burn people in their houses, unlike before when “banditry was all about livestock.”

But Ms Asinyen’s journey is the perfect tale of rising from grass to grace. “I grew up in abject poverty in Turkana South. When I was in primary school, I used to work in people’s houses in exchange for food,” she says.

“My family lived in a grass-thatched hut whose roof was leaking. When it was raining, we would cover our school books with sufuria as we squeezed ourselves into a corner until the rain was over. From the house, we could see the stars in the sky because their grass-thatched roof had been destroyed by ants.”

She schooled at Korinyang Primary, where she gave the headteacher a goat as Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam fee.

“To sit the KCPE exam, each pupil was required to pay Sh720 registration and boarding fees. My mother had no money, so I, together with my sister, trekked tens of kilometres to our uncle’s place called Lokapel to look for money, but he instead gave us a goat to sell,” she says.

“As we walked back home with the goat, we met several potential buyers who wanted to buy it for less than Sh400. I refused and insisted that its price was Sh720 – the amount needed for KCPE registration – and nothing could convince me to lower the price.”

She took the goat to her headteacher’s place and tied it in his compound.

“I told him that the goat was for the KCPE exam registration fee. He sympathised with me and decided to buy it and told me to go to class.”

Her life slightly took a turn for the better when her mother landed a job at a nursery school as a cook. “The headteacher of the primary school where the nursery was situated was impressed with my mother’s cooking skills. He seconded her to the primary school. She was paid in kind, getting foodstuffs like maize and cooking oil every week.”

Ms Asinyen’s mother was later employed as the primary school cook and was paid by the government a salary of Sh3,000.

“I performed well in my KCPE and was called to join Loreto Girls but could not go because Kiambu was far away from Turkana. A Catholic mission took me to Turkana Girls and paid for my school fees for the entire four years.”

After clearing her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam in 2004 she got a job as a voter registration clerk. She was paid Sh30,000 at the end of exercise.

“It is this money I used to buy iron sheets and we built ourselves a good house. We used the maize we had stored in our house to pay construction workers.”

She excelled in her KCSE and joined Moi University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Communication and Public Relations in 2011. Eight years later, she graduated with a Master of Business Administration from Mount Kenya University.

“I got married after graduating from Moi University and embarked on business. By the way, I was the first person to own a pool table, kinyozi shop and simu ya jamii in Katilu Division, Turkana South, before joining Moi University” recalls Ms Asinyen, who is also the managing director of Lodwar-based Ceamo Prestige Lodge and operations manager of Shabaa Civil Engineering and Construction Limited.

She uses part of the profit from the businesses to pay school fees for orphans and vulnerable children. Her care for the vulnerable convinced residents that she was the right person to represent them in Parliament, she says.

Helping the needy

“My rural home is always full of children, especially when schools are closed. I help many vulnerable people. I like sharing the little I have with other people who are in need. I like crowded places and not private life. That is why I stay with many vulnerable children in my compound. I started this many years back before venturing into politics.”

This helping hand, she believes, prepared her to become a politician. “One cannot become a successful politician while living a private life.”

Ms Asinyen was one of campaigners of the former Turkana Woman Rep Joyce Akai Emanikor before declaring her interest in the same seat in the August 9, 2022 election on the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket.

“Ms Emanikor became my friend many years back before the Constitution, which created the woman rep position, was promulgated in 2010. I even named my daughter after her. I campaigned for her in 2013 and 2017 and we won with a big margin. In 2017, the people of Turkana ‘forced’ me to vie against Ms Emanikor but I politely declined.”

Ms Asinyen finally threw her hat in the ring when Ms Emanikor ditched the seat and vied for Turkana Central parliamentary seat on the Jubilee Party ticket. Ms Emanikor lost to Joseph Namuar Emathe of UDA.

“I faced stiff competition as UDA was unpopular in Turkana and my opponents took advantage of my young age to campaign against me. But I assured voters that I was the right candidate and reminded them about David in the Bible, youngest of eight sons of Jesse, who was chosen to become king,” she says.

“But I had an advantage over other candidates as I had roots in all the six constituencies of Turkana. My husband comes from Turkana North, my late dad was from Turkana West, my mum comes from Turkana South and East, now we stay in Turkana Central and I was born in Loima. I used to tell the voters that the entire county is my home and I would serve all people if elected,” she says, urging young women to ensure their voices are heard by going for leadership positions.

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