Fatuma Gaiti Ahmed born in 1965 joined the Kenyan Army "by accident".[1] Upon completing secondary school in 1983 she had to return to her home town in order to claim an identification card.[2][3] The military happened to be carrying out a recruitment campaign at a stadium near to the offices of the ID services and she made enquiries about joining.[3] She entered the Kenya Military Academy as an officer cadet in 1984 and upon graduating was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Kenyan Women Service Corps.[3][2] From 1985 she served alongside the Kenyan Air Force, mainly in human resources.[3][2]
Ahmed has a degree from the National Defence College and the Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies and a diploma in management from Strathmore University.[2] She transferred to the Kenyan Air Force when the Women Service Corps was dissolved in 1999 and its personnel integrated into the remaining Kenyan armed forces.[3] This also removed the limitation for members of the Women Service Corps on not marrying or getting pregnant; Ahmed went on to have three children.[4] She served as deputy commander of a battalion and later as head of personnel at the Kenyan Air Force headquarters.[2] Ahmed was promoted to the rank of brigadier on 10 August 2015 and was also appointed managing director of the Defense Forces Medical Insurance Scheme.[2][5] She was the first female brigadier in Kenya.[5]
Ahmed was promoted to major general in 2018, making her Kenya's first female major general.[6] Later, in 2024, she became the first female commander of Kenya's air force, which also made her the first woman to lead one of Kenya's military services.[7]
Kenya
Kenya Air Force