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As a pioneer woman leader in the Coastal region, Joan Sera Nyasi Mjomba, is without doubt a heroine worth all the necessary bouquets.

Nyasi was born into a humble household in little-known Mraru village in Taita Taveta. She is a woman of many firsts, whose life history is a colorful quilt, woven with intricate patterns of magical triumphs and tragic losses.

The natural born leader, who will celebrate her 90th birthday on November 18, was undoubtedly a woman ahead of her time.

Nyasi was born of a peasant farmer and businessman father while her mother was a housewife. A typical Taita woman of her time, her mother believed a woman’s vocation was to be a good homemaker, wife and mother.

Against the backdrop, Nyasi was destined to be a housewife too but unlike her mother, she is an apple that fell far from the tree. She took her own path and decided the world was her stage.

From a village girl, Nyasi took off to become an educator, politician, champion of women’s rights, innovator and role model defying all odds. To her critics, she was a man in a dress, hostile, stubborn and troublemaker.

But for Nyasi, she is an enigma wrapped in two words-“Lady Dynamite” just like the title of her memoir detailing her life.

According to the memoir, Nyasi’s natural talent for leadership was evident from an early age.
“As early as Class Three, her teacher had noticed her predisposition. Joan completed her primary education by earning certificate in 1945,” the memoir reads.

She was among the few girls privileged to have had the golden opportunity of going to school at her time in a rigidly patriarchal society. Boys in her class were not impressed when she effectively competed with them and even outperformed them.

“I went to a school where we had tough competition in the classroom,” she explains, adding: “…And the way we competed with boys trained us to be tough, right from the time we were young and we would enjoy it.”

In 1946, she joined Coast Girls currently-Murray Girls at Wusi in Taita. “At the time, it was the only secondary school at the Coast,” the memoir reads.

“She was a boarder, walking 16 kilometers from school to home each weekend where she would prepare enough food to push her through the week, leaving some behind for the family.”

After high school in 1950, she became a teacher at the lowest grade, P4, at a village school known as Mkwachunyi, where she rose to the position of a deputy head teacher. The following year, she would be transferred to Coast Girls Boarding School, her alma mater.

As she kept climbing the ladder, the pioneer woman leader met her would-be husband Alan Mjomba. The couple met in 1950 and officiated their union on August 20, 1952. The marriage was an harmonious blend of both Christian ritual and Taita tradition. The bride and groom then went for honeymoon in Rabai. It was the greatest moments of their lives.

The couple established their home in Kikambala, Kilifi and were blessed with eight children.
Nyasi worked her way up the career ladder, and in 1967, she was promoted to an assistant District Education Officer. Her husband was then her boss.

Education officer
Her son, Dr Mjomba Majalia, a Communication lecturer, says by 1970, her mother was in her career peak and comfortable as an assistant education officer in the then larger Taita Taveta District.

“She recalls facing discrimination and harassment being the first and only female education officer. She would later serve as board member of Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organisation, aiming to convince women to send their girls to secondary school,” Dr Majalia recalls. In the morning of May 8, 1973, her family was struck by tragic news about the loss of her husband of 21 years.

Mjomba died in a road accident.

By the time, she was heavily pregnant with their eighth child. She was distraught and totally disoriented. The prospects of raising her family, a newborn and continuing a career seemed dismal.

At the end of 1973, months after her husband’s death, she made an unexpected and bold decision.
She had gone back to work at the education office after a short period of mourning but the office was a constant reminder of her husband. In addition she was afraid of further transfers.

“It was not easy to cope up with the situation at the start of the first two years full of confusion…my life became as blank as an uruled white paper. I had to resign from my assistant education officer post from frustration in the same office I worked with my husband,” Nyasi vividly recalls.

After a successful career in the education sector in January 1974 she took her stab in politics, becoming the first woman in the region and fourth in the country to vie for a parliamentary seat.

Her inspiration to join politics was also influenced by Grace Onyango, the first East African woman to serve as a mayor in 1965 and a Member of Parliament for Kisumu in 1969.

The memoir describes her journey in politics as bumpy, as she became a subject of sexiest sneers and brutal jokes on account of her gender.
“Politics was seen as a man’s game. When Nyasi was told that a bicycle would be her campaign symbol, she felt it was fitting given her history with riding but men made a nasty joke of her, saying it meant she was only there to be ridden by men… but she would not be deterred,” she says. “It was really hard.

“You could barely spot any woman in politics, not just in the Coast region because of our culture and beliefs, but also in the national arena.”

She exceeded the expectations of many after emerging second after long-serving former MP Eliud Mwamunga.

Nasty jokes

“I was competing with four male politicians. They made bad and nasty jokes about the symbol, including terming it a representation of me being there to be ridden by men. But I did not give up,” she says.

Despite her loss, she says the run raised her profile. The magnitude of the event was heroic to many and had put her on the map.

Nyasi went on to become the first female mayor of the defunct Voi Municipal Council. In 1975, she was also chosen to represent Coast women in the International Women’s Year General Assembly in Mexico.
Former head teacher, who describes herself as ‘Lady Dynamite’, has endured critics and many challenges and is still standing strong.

In 2022, Nyasi was recognised by former President Uhuru Kenyatta for her outstanding contributions in promoting gender equality and nation-building. President Uhuru awarded her with the Kenya Eminent Women Trailblazers Recognition and Award.

She was also among the few women who the Ministry of Public Service and Gender visited in recognition of their immense contribution in shaping Kenya as part of that year’s International Women’s Day celebrations. She was awarded the 3rd Class, Moran of the Burning Spear.

“Joan Mjomba was the First female mayor of the defunct Voi Municipal Council. She was chosen to represent Coast women in the International Women’s Year General Assembly. She was the founding member of the National Council of Women and was a Parliamentary aspirant in 1974.

“She also served as a Board member of the Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organisation,”a statement from the ministry stated.