Mama Msomali empowering women, fighting radicalism

In the village of Kiwandi Prison in the outskirts of Kilifi County is the home of Mumina Alaso. She is commonly known as Mama Msomali, a name she was given by the locals due to her community work.

Ms Alaso who is the chairperson of Umoja Women Group, dedicates her time advocating against violence extremism and empowering vulnerable women at the grassroots.

She is also a religious leader under the Coast Interfaith of Clerics Council (CICC)

“Because of my interactions with different players, we are able to preach peace and unity; violence extremism is the main challenge in our community due to poverty and lack of information,” says Ms Alaso. 

She says many mothers are unable to detect when their children are radicalised or have joined criminal groups.

Grassroots women

Nation.africa catches up with the mother of eight girls on a Saturday morning (7am) as she chairs her weekly group meeting.

Ms Alaso says she is passionate about empowering grassroots women to improve their livelihoods and protect the community against threats from criminal gangs and terrorists.

It started one day when her husband was involved in a road accident in Nairobi and she was newly married. 

“I was in my early 20s, a house wife and a mother of five girls when my husband got involved in the accident; this really affected me. I spent my days weeping until the women in my neighbourhoods got concerned and gathered in my house to inquire whether he had died; this showed me how united grassroots women can be despite their vulnerabilities,” she says. 

In 2010, she started moving around the community interacting with women in her locality. This led to the formation of Umoja Women Group, started with expectant mothers who had attended antenatal clinic at the Kiwandani dispensary.  They got technical support from Afya Pwani, an organization that deals with health matters.

Women groups

“I later started attending funerals, weddings and fundraisings to support needy women she adds.

She says it was initially a challenge holding the women together due to previous bad experiences in other women groups where they had lost money.

In 2020, Ms Alaso organised a sensitisation forum for grassroots women on economic empowerment. This was done through the support of CICC; changing the women’s negative perception, with a majority joining the group. This increased the membership to 34.

“Previously, majority of the women were even afraid to speak out on the challenges they faced in their marriages including domestic violence. They were also not bold enough to seek support,” she adds.

The women are now emboldened and engage in tent and chair hiring business as a source of income. As part of their social responsibility, they also support other groups, especially of persons living with disability.

“We were supported to acquire the tents and chairs and we use the same to support vulnerable groups,” she says.

During the Covid-19 period, Ms Alaso led in getting relief support for those affected, especially with job losses. Majority of those affected were widows, young mothers and single parents.

“Many women could not raise one meal a day because they had lost their sources of livelihood,” she said.

Ms Alaso is also a community health volunteer and conducts reproductive health sessions including family planning and safe sex to her members and young mothers on a daily basis.