Pamoja We Rise: What One Kibra Campaign Reveals About Young Women in African Politics

Our new paper uses the campaign of a young Nairobi aspirant to examine how a new generation of African women is preparing for political office, and what still stands in its way.

Olajide Ojeniyi, Nigerian researcher and youth-development practitioner

10/12/20266 min read

Pamoja We Rise: What One Kibra Campaign Reveals About Young Women in African Politics_ African Narratives
Pamoja We Rise: What One Kibra Campaign Reveals About Young Women in African Politics_ African Narratives

A campaign poster in Kibra, Nairobi, carries two short lines: "Kibra Deserves Better!" and "Pamoja We Rise!" Beneath them sit four pillars: People First, Quality Education for All, Safe and Secure Communities, and a Healthy Society. The face on the poster belongs to Wandiru Gladys, known to her online following as Senator Fantaceleb, who is positioning herself as a 2027 aspirant for Member of Parliament.

Kenya has thousands of hopefuls preparing for the 2027 general election. Our new paper, Pamoja We Rise: How Wandiru Gladys Represents the Rise of Female Youth in African Politics, argues that this particular poster deserves attention for what it says about a wider shift. Across Africa, Ojeniyi writes, political candidates are increasingly younger, digitally engaged, focused on their communities and, in significant numbers, female. Gladys, in his reading, is one clear expression of that generation's decision to stop advocating from the sidelines and seek a seat where public decisions are made.

A Candidate Built on Preparation

The paper begins with Gladys's path into public life, which the author presents as a deliberate apprenticeship in leadership.

Her foundation is public speaking. According to the paper, she was voted Best Public Speaker by the Kenya National Debate Council in 2021, and in 2023 she served as an adjudicator for the World Scholars Cup in Nairobi. Ojeniyi argues that these skills carry real political weight in Kenya, where community meetings, public forums, debates and radio discussions remain central to how candidates reach voters. The ability to argue a case, listen to opposing views and persuade a room, he notes, is a core part of effective leadership.

Her formal education is in business. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, specialising in Procurement and Supply Chain Management. The paper also lists leadership training at the Leap Leadership Institute in Nigeria, participation in leadership and development forums across the continent, and a current role as a Policy Advocacy Trainee at The Black Policy Institute in the United Kingdom.

Taken together, the author sees a pathway that is becoming more visible among young African leaders: formal education, leadership development, public engagement and community work, combined deliberately as preparation for political participation.

From Advocacy to the Ballot

A recurring theme in the paper is the move from campaigning on issues to seeking the power to act on them.

Gladys describes herself as a champion of the Sustainable Development Goals, with a particular focus on Zero Hunger, Quality Education, Climate Action, and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. In 2023, the paper notes, she was selected through UNDP to take part in a youth roundtable at the Africa youth summit held in Nairobi that year, where discussions covered youth participation in climate action, peacebuilding and politics.

Ojeniyi suggests these experiences shaped her political outlook. Many young advocates spend years lobbying institutions from outside. Gladys, in his account, concluded that the more direct route was to enter those institutions herself. He also observes that many emerging young female leaders share an emphasis on practical outcomes, with their platforms built around services and results more than slogans.

Why Kibra Matters

The choice of constituency raises the stakes considerably. Kibra is one of Nairobi's most politically significant seats, home to one of the city's largest informal settlements and a long history of intense political engagement. The paper describes it as a demanding environment for any newcomer, and argues that a young woman seeking to represent it signals both serious ambition and a belief that a new generation of voters may be open to different kinds of leadership.

Recent reporting confirms just how competitive the seat is likely to be. Kibra has long been regarded as the political base of the Odinga family; the late Raila Odinga represented the area from 1992 to 2013, when it formed part of Lang'ata. Ahead of 2027, Kenyan media have reported interest from his son, Raila Odinga Junior, alongside the sitting MP, Peter Orero, and former MP Imran Okoth, all within the Orange Democratic Movement.

Gladys, by contrast, is affiliated with the Linda Mwananchi Movement, according to the paper, and has expressed interest in the movement's Youth Representative position for Kibra Constituency. Linda Mwananchi has emerged in 2026 as an opposition movement whose leaders say they are breaking with ODM and registering as a political party ahead of the election. Her campaign therefore sits outside the constituency's dominant political tradition, which makes her bid both harder and more revealing as a test of voter appetite for change.

Four Forces Reshaping African Politics

The paper places Gladys's campaign within four broader trends.

Demographics. Africa is the world's youngest continent. Around 60% of Africans are under the age of 25, according to UN population data. The author poses the question this raises directly: who represents the aspirations and daily realities of Africa's young majority? Candidates who understand how young people communicate, what worries them economically and what they hope for, he argues, may be best placed to engage this increasingly decisive group of voters.

Digital politics. Political communication has moved well beyond rallies, newspapers, radio and television. The paper points to the name Senator Fantaceleb, and the social-media style of Gladys's campaign communication, as evidence of a candidate who understands how engagement has changed. Digital platforms, Ojeniyi notes, let emerging candidates speak directly to citizens, build communities around ideas and spread their message without depending entirely on established party machinery.

Issue-based leadership. Young female candidates, the author observes, increasingly build their agendas around education, employment, climate change, economic empowerment, peace, justice and accountable government. This, he argues, could shift political debate away from personalities and party loyalties towards policy, service delivery and measurable results for communities.

The Pamoja principle. Pamoja means "together" in Swahili, and the paper argues that the word carries particular weight in East African politics, where the language of collective action and shared progress has become increasingly prominent. Read this way, "Pamoja We Rise" works as a campaign slogan and as a political philosophy built on inclusion, participation, shared responsibility and community development.

The Barriers That Remain

The paper is careful not to overstate the progress. The growing visibility of young women in politics, Ojeniyi warns, should not be mistaken for equal access.

Young women still face limited access to campaign finance, political gatekeeping, online harassment, gender-based discrimination, and party structures that tend to favour incumbents and established figures. They also face a distinctive kind of scrutiny, in which their competence and policy positions are judged alongside their age, gender, appearance and perceived experience.

Kenya's own record illustrates the scale of the challenge. Women held about 23% of seats in the National Assembly after the 2022 election, up from 21% in 2017, and the constitutional principle that no more than two-thirds of any elected body should be of the same gender has still not been fully implemented in Parliament.

Against this backdrop, the author argues, ambition alone is insufficient. Emerging female leaders need credibility, organisation, resilience, networks, policy knowledge and sustained engagement with the communities they hope to represent.

Youth as a Credential

One of the paper's most interesting observations concerns how Gladys handles her age. Many young candidates treat youth as a weakness to be explained away. Gladys, the author notes, makes it a central part of her leadership story.

Her record as a debater, student leader, SDG advocate, leadership trainee and participant in continental youth forums supports a political proposition built on preparation and participation. The message, as Ojeniyi summarises it, is that young people do not have to wait for leadership to be handed to them. They can prepare themselves and pursue it directly.

What Kibra Will Decide

The paper is clear that the outcome rests with voters. Campaign messages and personal credentials will need to translate into trust, effective organisation and a convincing political programme, and in a seat as contested as Kibra that will be a formidable task.

Even so, the author contends that candidates like Gladys matter regardless of the final result. Their significance lies in their willingness to participate, their investment in leadership development, their engagement with present-day issues and their determination to put community priorities at the centre of political debate. If Kibra does choose change in 2027, he argues, it will be the product of accumulated effort: public debate, community organising, leadership development and the work of emerging leaders who chose to shape the future instead of waiting for it.

Why This Matters for Africa

This paper offers a useful lens on one of the continent's defining political questions. Africa's population is overwhelmingly young, yet older men still dominate its political institutions. Every election cycle produces a new wave of young aspirants testing whether that gap can be closed through the ballot box.

Ojeniyi's closing thought gives the campaign slogan its fullest meaning. Beyond the readiness of young women to lead, "Pamoja We Rise" asks communities to imagine leadership as something they can build together. Whether Kibra's voters accept that invitation in 2027, the question it poses will outlast any single campaign.


Download the full paper here

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