Former Aljazeera journalist elected to join Kenya’s 13th Parliament

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Veteran journalist Mohamed Adow has clinched the Wajir South parliamentary seat after trouncing six opponents in the just concluded August 9 General Election.

Adow, who ran on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party ticket, garnered 13,990 votes dethroning the incumbent MP Mohamud Sheikh Mohammed, who received 4,293 votes.

The new MP-elect was followed closely by Mohamud Muhumed Sirat, with 7,545 votes.

Others in the race were Abdullahi Yussuf Noor (7,317), Mohamed Kahiye Bullet (1,274), Khalif Abdi Ali (654) and Dekow Noor Ali (53 votes).

Being his first-time stab at the parliamentary seat, Adow has beaten all odds to ascend to the legislative position with promises of transforming the lives of his people in the conflict-prone Northern Kenya region.

“This election has been framed. It’s about ideas and long-lasting policies that will replenish the full potential of Wajir South in all its spheres. We are united on a common goal – a better and developed Wajir south,” he wrote on a social media platform.

He also pledged to base his political leadership on effective development, improving education and uplifting voters’ living standards.

Having started his media career as a Garissa correspondent for the Nation in 1996, Adow rose over the ranks to become a world Aljazeera correspondent in Africa, the Middle East and Europe by 2017.

He has also worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as a correspondent in Nairobi and Ethiopia prior to his appointment in the Qatar-based Al Jazeera.

During most of the appointments, he worked on ethnic- discrimination stories in Northern Kenya against Somalis and also covered the infamous Al Shabaab conflict between Kenya and Somalia.

In early January 2014, Adow was expelled from South Sudan for reporting on the anti-government protesters’ advance on the capital Juba.

He produced a documentary that aired on Al Jazeera English on November 14, 2013, revealing a history of discrimination in Kenya since independence against ethnic Somalis in Northern Kenya.

Adow is popularly known for his Al Jazeera documentary dubbed “Not Yet Kenyan” and his expulsion from South Sudan for reporting on the anti-government protesters’ advance on the capital Juba.