A wise person once said that a lie circles the world even before the truth puts on its shoes and another might have added that no matter how far and wide a lie travels,it never makes it the truth.

You have heard of #MpesaRudiNyumbani which was a very delicate task of having the Mpesa servers brought home, Kenya, from Germany where they had been since inception.It was a largely delicate and risky move and any careening and small veering offtrack would lead to loss of billions of Safaricom cash. A 3-year operation dubbed ‘Operation Mwamba’ was initiated with 320-strong personnel on hand. Guess who led this Herculean task? Elvis Ondieki’s article in the Daily Nation explains it all. Not an IT expert from the West., Not a man but a young lady,Ms Emma Nyambura Gichonge. Remember when IT came to Kenya and everyone thought that we could not handle it and then she debunked that myth with the touch of a button.

I grew up knowing that women were to handle ‘lighter duties’ and couldn’t venture into male dominated fields like Science and even entrepreneurship. My elder siblings, who happen to be female, never pursued a career in STEM and I used to doubt whether women were just afraid or they lacked the necessary support structures.

Photo: Ms Judith Owigar – Co-Founder Akirachix

Well, my doubts were seized by Njoki Chege’s article in the Daily Nation where she talked of Ms Judith Owigar,a 30-year-old social entrepreneur and co-founder of Akirachix . Remember that lady who sat between President Obama and President Uhuru Kenyatta during the GES Summit? For those who have no idea, Akirachix is a program that was established in 2010 as a community where Judith and other co-founders could come together, work on different solutions and share knowledge especially in IT where women were underrepresented. The centre has been and is still offering training to women in technology and slowly changing lives. In fact this is where my daughter will come to learn after high school. She is undoubtedly a woman without boundaries.

Since then I’ve tried to find my way in the IT sector and I must admit it’s very different from what they made me believe when I was growing up. I get inspired every day by women who have proven themselves beyond reasonable doubt that women can virtually do anything regardless of the field as long as they get the right support structures. I can’t help but thank Joan Thatia for shedding light on the top female entrepreneurs to watch for in her Daily Nation’s article. One entrepreneur that really struck me was Judy Wambugu, the CEO of Safety Instructors and Planners Ltd. So women can actually run successful security ventures? The answer is Yes.

At this point, I know I am more than ready to venture into entrepreneurship and of course in the ICT field. I want to inspire people. I want someone to look at me and say, because of you I didn’t give up. I am a woman without limits.

The time for women to believe the truth is now. #BelieveTheTruth

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