Kenya has landed its first ever ‘female president!’ Nereah Amondi Oketch won the title after trumping four other finalists in the Ms President Reality show.
Nereah, a Member of Homa Bay County Assembly, bagged the crown at the reality show’s grand finale held at the Catholic University of East Africa. The event that graced by a team from the European Commission among a number of public figures, was aired live on KTN Home.
When giving her inaugural speech, Nereah shown not just her leader instincts but also her wifely and motherly sides. Her first words upon winning- my baby, my baby- showed us a motherly figure that we had not seen much of particularly during the show.
The nominated MCA, with her baby safely tacked in her arm, took to the stage to appreciate and praise her husband for being there for her as she dedicated the win to her son.
“To my family and my husband, I love you. You have gone through everything that a man should not go through and I am going to take the next one week to be there for you.” She said.
The five finalists- Nereah, Umulkheir Mohammed, Irene Mayaka, Betty Adera, and Waruguru Wa Kiai, who came in first to fifth in that order- were all present at the colourful gala.
The winner was announced following a voting process where viewers were asked to cast their votes in favor of their preferred candidate through a free SMS code.
The five finalists where carved from a preliminary pool of over 1000 applicants who had signed up to be Kenya’s first female President. Elimination reduced the number to 71 who were then taken to the academy. The number was further brought down to 40 and then to 16 and finally to the five finalists after 7 months and 26 episodes of Ms President Reality Show.
The contestants were subjected to group assignments and later individual presentations on issues other than politics.
The overall objective of the Ms President show is to raise awareness on the leadership roles that women can, and should, play in peace building, and, more specifically, to empower women and girls to become more active in the political and social sphere of the country.