From a restaurant waiter to a parliamentary aspirant: The road as traveled by Pollyne Owoko.

Published December 12, 2007

She loves to inspire people and would prefer to use her energies in an endevour that will change the world. But Pollyne Owoko is not your ordinary young woman. At the age of 18 years she endured hard times to raise her younger siblings after the demise of her father in 1995, she took over the responsibility of paying school fees for the younger members of her family- four girls and one boy.

Born on the eve of the 1977 new year, at Rang’ala Mission Hospital in Nyanza province, the 30 year-old, described by friends as aggressive, passionate, modest and a people’s person schooled at both St. Mary’s Girls Primary school and Molo academy, both schools in Molo town before joining Lwak Girls Secondary school in 1991 where she left in 1994 after successfully completing her four-year secondary education course.

Like fate would have it, Pollyne lost her father, Mr. Francis Ong’echi Owoko in 1995 immediately after her secondary education. The burden to raise her sisters and brothers was to lay squarely on her tender shoulders.

Her mum, Mrs. Mary Atieno Owoko had retired as a school teacher in Molo where she and her late husband were teachers. A career that Pollyne says enabled her to be able to live in various parts of the country even at that early age.

“We lived in Londiani, Molo, and Baragoi (Maralal) as my parents were frequently transferred from one location to another. This opportunity enabled me to interact with various groups of people not necessarily from my tribe and I got to learn various cultures.” She says.

She moved to Nairobi to look for employment, and in 1996 she got a job as a waiter at Steers restaurant in the city. The job was meagerly paying according to Pollyne, “I was paid Kshs 2,500 per month. This was peanuts considering the responsibilities that I was handling.” She was luckily introduced to Nu-Turn (a public relations consultancy firm) by a customer who frequented Steers where Pollyne was interviewed and offered a job as a sales person.

Her salary increased to “astounding” figure. “I was offered a monthly pay of Kshs 30,000 up from 2,500. This was a miracle. I was only 18 years and earning this astronomical figure I was very glad! The money enabled me to pay school fees for my brother who was studying in India then and my sisters and sustain the upkeep of my mother.”

The employment also offered her an opportunity to train on marketing and merchandising skills and offered her numerous trips to Mombasa and Kisumu on company assignments.

On Education and training

In 1998 she quit her employment at RJ Reynolds, a subsidiary of Nu-Turn after landing another offer at Mediplus to work as a sales person. While in this employ, she pursued part-time Diploma training in Insurance Management at the College of Insurance.

Later with Dale Carnegie, she took courses on world class customer care and subsequently opened her own Insurance Agency –Jayvepee-in the year 2002. The company which Pollyne still manages to date deals in selling of insurance products and offshore marketing. Besides, she is a marketer for Free-to-Grow, a South African service company that deals in emotional intelligence.

Pollyne whom, her mother describes as a go-getter is also a graduate of Political leadership Development Programme from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation as well as a graduate of Interaction African Leadership Program sponsored by the British Council. On both programs, she says: “They gave me insights to be able to comprehend the basis of good political practice and what good leadership entails.”

She chairs the Kenya Youth Development Organisation (KYDO), a youth empowerment and life skills training organisation. But Pollyne now has her eyes compellingly focused at the Makadara parliamentary seat which she aspires to clinch at the December 27th poll.

Her Inspiration

Her motivation is drawn from the fact that women in Makadara need protection. The widows in the constituency need income that is sustainable and that “many people in this constituency live in deplorable state. The poverty levels are abysmal and social services have deteriorated.” She says.

Pollyne is concerned that there is no legislation in Kenya that addresses the issue of sports and entertainment, “which is owned and consumed by the youth.” If elected MP, she would like to reverse this state.

Another issue pertinent on her agenda is the provision of reproductive health services to deal with the spiraling rate of breast and cervical cancer in the area. She says, “women need to go for check ups, they need information. These are human rights issues and should be addressed in inclusion with other rights issues. We should stop empowering a sick nation. The cost of treating these diseases is high and touches on the fabric of our economic growth.”

Makadara constituency, she says is home to most of the industries and factories in Nairobi and contributes close to 200 billion to Kenya’s economy yet the constituency records poor development indices. Pollyne would want to lobby for an affirmative action where 5 percent of all company employees in industrial area must come from the constituency.

She is vying on a United Democrats of Peace and Integrity in Kenya (UDPI) party ticket which she says has an ideology that is consistent with her personality – Ungwana. Kenya she regrets is degenerating into a community where people are slowly losing morals.

The lady who views politics in Kenya as selfish and preserve of the rich without clear agenda is a mother of 8 year-old Fracy Susan Kadide and foster mother to 21 year-old Angela Onyach who lives in Dubai. And her message to young people is: Decide your fate. The choice is yours.