Meet Kenya's first ever Intersex aspirant nominated by DP Ruto's UDA

For the first time in Kenya’s history, the August 9, 2022 General Election ballot paper will have an intersex aspirant. 

Fransisca Kwamboka Kibagendi will be vying for the Mukuru Kwa Njenga Member of County Assembly (MCA) seat under the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket. 

UDA is one of the most popular political parties in Kenya, under the stewardship of Deputy President William Ruto, one of the leading candidates in the presidential race. 

Despite being different, Kwamboka who identifies as a man, is confident he will emerge victorious come August 9. 

This he attributes to what he says is dedicated service delivery to the people of Mukuru Kwa Njenga slums, where he has lived since 2003. 

“Naweza sema Mungu amenipatia uongozi ndani yangu kwa sababu nimekuwa kiongozi pale mtaani kwa shughuli mingi. Pia niko na ule msukumo wa kuhakikisha kuwa watu wa Mukuru kwa Njenga wanapata zile services wanhitaji kwa wakati unaofaa,” Kwamboka says. 

‘Fransisca Kwamboka’ is a female name among the Kisii community. He says, despite this, many people have come to understand her orientation and ok with him as their leader.

However, Kwamboka laments there are those still stuck in the past and don’t know what being intersex means, and constantly mock him for this. But he gives them a deaf ear and concentrates on her desire to lead. 

“Of course, there are those who approach my strongest supporters and try to mock me for being intersex. But what is said behind my back does not really concern me. I have learnt to accept myself and I concentrated on making myself a better person. Now I am ready to lead,” says Kwamboka.

Born in a tiny village in Kitutu Chache North, Kisii county, Kwamboka says the community around him did not have an issue with him being intersex while he lived with his grandmother.

As a child, he didn’t give much attention to his orientation until around 2010 when he joined an organisation in Mukuru kwa Njenga. 

It is here that he learnt about intersex, what it entails, the causes and much more. Through this, Kwamboka started accepting himself more, became aware of his environment and interacted more with people who looked like him. 

Also, it was in the capital city that Kwamboka first experienced what he says was discrimination. People talked behind his back, others told it to his face, and this broke him down at some point. 

But thanks to the organisation he had joined, he learnt a lot regarding being intersex, coming to terms to the fact that it is just a human state and that intersex people are just like other normal people. 

“Kenya bado kuna mila na utamaduni. So kuna wale wanaamini kuwa these things exist na kuna wale hawaamini, which is ok. Number kubwa ni ile inaamini Kwamboka ni kiongozi,” he says.

Today, Kwamboka is part of an organisation that gives hope to children born intersex, ensuring they get an education and encouraging their parents and society to accept and accommodate them. 

Her nomination by UDA, he says, is another step towards giving a voice to intersex people in Kenya, after the country became the first in the world to conduct censors for intersex people in 2019.