Kenya gets first woman Major-General: Fatumah Ahmed

President of Kenya on Friday (July 13) swore into office the country’s first woman Major-General in the person of Fatumah Ahmed. She had barely two years ago made history as the first woman Brigadier-General.

Fatumah, who works with the Air Force, thus became the first woman in the Kenya Defense Force (KDF) to rise to the post in the country’s over five decades of independent rule.

According to military rankings, a Major-General is a general officer ranking above a brigadier general and below a lieutenant general.

The president took the lead in celebrating Fatumah’s feat The president’s social media handles shared photos of the swearing in ceremony.

Most local news portals reported it as a breaking news item whiles Kenyans on social media platform Twitter joined in the celebration. Below are a few tweets in that respect.

Ni furaha yangu kuwa rais wa Kwanza kumteua mwanamke wa kwanza kwenye wadhifa wa juu katika uongozi wa jeshi katika taifa letu la Kenya. MEJA JENERALI FATUMA AHMED kama msaidizi wa Amiri mkuu wa majeshi akisimamia wafanyikazi na vifaa na uchukuzi kdfinfo pic.twitter.com/N8udn8VP8b

— Uhuru Kenyatta (UKenyatta) July 13, 2018

FATUMAH AHMED promoted to the rank of Major-General, becomes the highest-ranking woman to ever serve in the Kenyan military pic.twitter.com/5×9HYjhfSg

— BusinessDaily Africa (@BD_Africa) July 13, 2018

A big congratulations to Fatumah Ahmed for becoming the first Major General in our KDF.
Hongera sana

— Tamurai Creations (@tamurai_inc) July 13, 2018

Congrats madam General, you have hit it “FATUMAH AHMED”

— #Walters254?? (@ItsMittey) July 13, 2018

Salute Madam General Fatumah Ahmed. Mad respect for you. Let's see more ladies rise up the ranks kdfinfo . Proud of all ex Outward Bound alumni as well.

— Jackie A (Jackie_Arkle) July 13, 2018

A big big Congratulations to Fatumah Ahmed as she makes history as the First Woman to become Major General in the Kenya Defence Forces.

This pic was taken on 24th August 2015 when I… https://t.co/pR3Va1vdCM

— Jane Ngoiri (@janengoiri) July 13, 2018

A big big Congratulations to Fatumah Ahmed as she makes history as the First Woman to become Major General in the Kenya Defence Forces. This pic was taken on 24th August 2015 when I interviewed her following her promotion to Brigadier. #MajorGeneralFatumaAhmed #WanawakeHoyee

A post shared by jane ngoiri (@janengoiri14) on Jul 13, 2018 at 3:54am PDT