Breaking the glass ceiling: Meet Maj Gen Fatuma Gaiti Ahmed Kenya's first female commander of air force

For the first time in history of Kenya, a woman has been appointed as the commander of the country’s air force. Maj Gen Fatuma Gaiti Ahmed will now be heading one of the military services in the East African country.

Maj Gen Ahmed was appointed by Kenya’s President William Ruto. This comes after the tragic helicopter crash last month, which claimed the lives of the military chief and others, prompting the need for new leadership.

Her appointment to the prestigious post has quashed gender barriers. She has become the country’s first female air force Commander the rank dominated by men. She was the first woman to rise to a rank of brigadier and major general.

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Who is Maj Gen Fatumah Gaiti Ahmed, Kenya’s fist woman air force commander?

Gen Ahmed was born in 1965 and completed her education at Aga Khan High School in Nairobi.

She is a graduate of the National Defence College and an alumni of the Defence Staff College where she graduated in July 2000.

She also holds a Diploma in Management from Strathmore University College.

Luck By Chance

After graduating in 1983, Gen Ahmed had gone to collect her identity card when she stumbled upon a recruitment advertisement by the Kenyan Defence Forces.

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Trying her luck, she applied and got through. Gen Ahmed entered the Kenya Military Academy as an officer cadet in 1984 and there was no looking back. In no time, she became an indispensable part of the force.

After her training got over, she was commissioned to the rank of second lieutenant in the Kenyan Women’s Service Corps in 1985. All women joining the military were immediately recruited to this Corps, which was a woman-only outfit that operated as a separate entity from the other arms of the defence forces and reportedly was set up to provide support services to male officers.

In her interview to African news outlet Nation in 2015, she had said: “It was just an opportunity that presented itself and I decided to go for it.”

However, in 1999, the Women’s Corps was dissolved and Gen Ahmed was transferred to the Kenyan Air Force.

Notably, Gen Ahmed became the first woman to ever rise to rank in the Kenyan military.

In 2015, she was promoted to the rank of Brigadier by the then President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In 2021, she was promoted to the rank of Major General which further strengthened her remarkable career.

In 2023, President William Ruto appointed her as the Senior Directing Staff Air.

Maj Gen Ahmed has also served as a Battalion Second in Command (BN 2IC) Staff Officer II Audit Personnel and Records.

With inputs from agencies