May 14, 2008

Inviolata Mmbwavi is in the race for the Embakasi seat in the coming by-elections set for June, and like they say: “She is fired up and ready to go!”

“Embakasi constituency is headed for a by-election in the next one month. This is a very important period in the history of Embakasi people since we would be determining again our future after the untimely death of our MP Hon. Mugabe Were in January 2008.” Says Inviolata Mmbwavi an aspirant for the seat. She had tried her shot at the seat during last year’s general elections on a KADDU ticket.

Like many constituencies in Kenya, Inviolata says Embakasi is characterized by gross inequality with an ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor, insecurity, ethnicity and political instability.

Embakasi, she adds, is seeking committed, visionary and selfless leadership that could steer the constituency into better living standards.

Embakasi is a Social Time-Bomb

“Embakasi is a social time bomb unless remedial measures are taken. This is due to abject poverty and life despair. This has been accelerated by unemployment, diseases, crime, marginalization of the people due to poor political leadership and poor or none existence of facilities to improve the lives of the people,” notes Invio as she is popularly known amongst the youth in the area.

Having been a resident of Embakasi for 13 years Inviolata observes that life in this eastlands part of Nairobi is characterised by gangsterism, cronyism and ethnicity which has led to a permanent paralysis of development in the area.

“HIV/AIDS has affected almost everybody in Kenya (prevalence 6% as at 2006 from 13% in 2002) leading to depletion of the gains made for economic recovery and subjecting many families to beggars. With all the realities of the impact of HIV and AIDS, the leadership in Kenya has never acknowledged the disease and its effects at a very personal level or show supportive leadership to PLWHA hence the continued stigma which is proving more dangerous than HIV,” observes the 35-year- old who sits at the helm of the National Empowerment of the People Living with Aids in Kenya (NEPHAK), a local Non Governmental Organisation.

Having led a national network of People Living with HIV/Aids (PLWHA) in Kenya, and interacted with communities, national and international leaders, Inviolata believes she has got the relevant experience, understanding and the know-how of facilitating communities to improve their lives.

“It is for these reasons that I would be contesting again, in the upcoming by-election as a Member of Parliament for Embakasi Constituency. I believe I have what it takes to change the perception of politics towards communities and the marginalised in the country for a better Kenya for many if not all.” She says.

Strategic Leadership

Inviolata is optimistic of bringing about change in Embakasi through creation of employment opportunities to the youth and through “strategic leadership” to its constituents. She has earned immense accolades for her role in reversing the story of HIV/Aids in the country by fighting to ensure that HIV/Aids patients in Kenya can access retroviral medication for free. This battle, she has not only waged it at the local stage but also international.

She is a third born in the family of ten. Her upbringing has potent bearing into her decision to run for the Embakasi seat. She says, “I am a strong believer in equity and fairness. As a little girl I felt I was deprived of this, my sister- our first born – and my brother- the second born- were treated fairly better than I was. Probably because of their age and also because they were classes ahead of me in school. I did most of the domestic chores, something that occasionally infuriated me.”

Her story mirrors into the typical rural life. She reflects with a nostalgic ring how as a little girl she had to go to collect firewood and return to prepare food and coming back home from school, she would have to contend with another task of ensuring that her siblings were bathed and fed. This experience, she says hardened her and “contributed to great measure to what I am today. With my mother, we tilled land and planted potatoes to feed the rest of the family.”

 

A Modest Up-Bringing

On her education, she says, “I am very grateful to my father. If there’s anything great he endowed me with, is my education at Buhulunya Primary school from 1979 to 1986 when I sat my K.C.P.E and Lihanda Girls secondary school, both schools in western province where I was born and brought up. A very modest upbringing.”

As the national coordinator of the National Empowerment of the People Living with Aids in Kenya (Nephak), she has displayed a sense of determination and hard work, attributes that Inviolata says she “picked up from my father while I was growing up. My father was in the disciplined force. He was a policeman. From him I learnt the virtues of law and order. I learnt to be a well disciplined girl without necessarily allowing myself to be stepped on. I was also a loyal member of the debating club. That is how I ended up being head girl at secondary school. These leadership traits I posses now, have been nurtured over time,” she says.

After completion of her secondary education in 1990, she came to Nairobi to search for employment. She worked in a number of organisations including the Women Fighting Aids in Kenya (WOFAK).

On why she chose KADDU, she says: “I chose KADDU because of what it stands for. It believes in affirmative action and fairness for all.”

Her success as she says has been because their have been people around to help her get up the ladder. She says she is grateful to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for their immense support towards her, and particularly for enabling her attain a degree in counseling and psychology from Durhan University in United Kingdom.

Inviolata is a mother to a 15-year-old daughter and is looking forward to clinch the Embakasi parliamentary seat in the coming by-elections scheduled for June11.
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