Meet Prof Osman Warfa—the Wajir gubernatorial candidate

Wajir county gubernatorial candidate Prof Osman Warfa.

By: Abdikadir Ukash

“I am nationalist, ” jokes Professor Osman Warfa when I asked about his love for shirts with replicas of the Kenyan flag.

“This is an expression of love for Kenya—the country I call home,” he added.

Born in Wajir County in the early 50’s, Warfa happened to be the few lucky individuals who went to school to study the “John’s education”.

“John” was a nickname for the white colonialists.

After he emerged among the best student in the final primary examinations, Prof Warfa was sponsored to study at the Nairobi Schools,  a prestigious high school where creme de la creme of today’s leading national figures attended.

From there, he went to Europe to study and later came back to the country to teach at the University of Nairobi at the height of the Nyayo regime.

“It only when you’ve been away from the country that you will grow more in love with your country,” he said.

“I was conspicuous because of my identity as the only Somali lecturer and even the presidential aides recognised me for that,” he reminisced at the olden days when he would write for the daily papers to contribute to difficult topics at a time when freedom of speech was immensely unfree.

Mr Warfa fluently speaks four languages—English, Somali, Kiswahili and Russian.

“Prof. Warfa obtained PhD in OD, Leadership, and Policy from the University of Minnesota, USA. As a consultant he develops participatory performance management tools and helps organizations maintain efficiency and high employee satisfaction,” shouts his LinkedIn page.

Youthful supporters carry Prof Osman Warfa shoulders high at a recent campaign event in Wajir town.

In his bid to replace Ahmed Abdullahi, the Wajir County governor, Warfa says he is the best bet considering his performance track record, leadership skills and education level. He is vying on an ARK ticket.

“I’m a grassroots person, and that’s where the bulk of the needy people are,” he argues.

And true to his arguments, people who’ve worked with him would tell you that he prefers grassroots mobilisation than any other form of political campaign.

He also took a swipe at the Ogaden Supreme Council (OSC) who he termed dishonest. He said the process that saw Ahmed Muhumed picked as the preferred governor was not above board, adding that he was much better placed.

“After I realised that the process was not honest, I went back to the US despite paying the sh 1 million application fee. As if that is not enough, the OSC went ahead and announced that I conceded and was in support of the outcome. They lied,” he noted.

Warfa was the among the leading figures behind the establishment of the Jubbaland administration in Somalia.

“I coined the name Jubbaland” he said.

“Not only that: Besides Allah, I made Diif and Burder in Wajir South into what they are today,” he added.

In his numerous published articles, Warfa has repeatedly argued that poor leadership has slid the country into a state of economic despair.

“Kenya is ripe for socio-economic transformation,”‘ Warfa said, “But the country leaders are throwing the country deeper and deeper into debt and creating chronically uneven development.”