Linah Kilimo
Linah Jebii Kilimo (born October 22, 1963) is a Member of Parliament in Kenya.
At the 2002 general elections she was elected to represent Marakwet East Constituency on NARC ticket. At the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum, she supported rejection of the proposed constitution. After the proposed constitution failed to pass, she was kicked out of the government, along with a number of other ministers. She joined the Orange Democratic Movement, but later left the party to support the re-election of president Mwai Kibaki.[1] Eventually she ran for the KENDA party and retained her parliamentary seat.
Kilimo has been instrumental in working with the government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in working towards eradicating female genital mutilation. Her political opponents opposed her running for office on the grounds that she had not been circumcised, and so was not fit to hold public office.
She has also been instrumental in bringing a lasting peace between the Pokots and Marakwets. The Marakwet community and particularly those from Marakwet East Constituency had been persecuted by marauding Pokot warriors, which the KANU government had failed to stop, despite the presence of army, police, and paramilitary police units in the area. Peace was achieved only after the NARC government was elected in December 2002. The two communities now live in peace and harmony.
Kilimo has also been successful in developing the Marakwet East constituency, through providing funding to local school for books, more teachers, food programs and even clothing. She has worked with the government to enhance access to the constituency by construction of an all-weather road, with the intention to make the same a tarmac road in the short-term future.
Kilimo is married to an engineer working with the government. They have five children.
References
- ↑ Daily Nation, October 7, 2007: Kilimo: This is why I ran away from ODM