Wednesday August 17, 2022
Abdul Mohamud is an immigrant from Kenya, running in the Auckland local elections. ABIGAIL DOUGHERTY/STUFF
Abdul Mohamud is an African immigrant from Kenya running in the Auckland local elections for Puketāpapa Local Board. He talks about his motivation to run and the importance of diversity.
Abdul Mohamud immigrated to New Zealand searching for a sense of belonging after facing discrimination in his home country of Kenya.
The 44-year-old community worker is contesting a seat on the Puketāpapa Local Board in the 2022 Auckland local elections.
He said he will bring a unique voice to local government, which has been criticised in the past for lacking diversity.
Mohamud was born in Nairobi, Kenya and grew up in Mombasa.
His parents both fled political instability in Somalia for Kenya.
“My father is a native of Somalia and as a young boy he escaped a dictatorship in 1969 to come to Kenya and build a life,” he said.
"He started his own business, but he was never seen as a Kenyan.”
Mohamud's family experienced discrimination in Kenya due to their Somalian roots. He said his father lost his business due to xenophobia and his family was threatened to with deportation.
“We didn't know where we belonged, either in Somalia or Kenya, we were basically stateless,” he said.
"After several years, being from a marginalised, targeted ethnic community there … getting a job, thriving in a business became very hard."
Mohamud said he never felt like he belonged in Kenya and struggled with identity.
"I was in class four there, equivalent of year 6 here, my own teacher who I looked up to told me, ‘When are you going back?’ and that hit me really hard,” he said.
"That was what motivated me to start a new life and look for somewhere where there is opportunity and that you could be accepted as part of the community."
He was drawn to New Zealand by its reputation as a multicultural society, and immigrated in 2013, at the age of 34, with his wife.
“There are so many different ethnic communities living in New Zealand, so I thought I could be part of many, part of this community,” he said.
"We thought, here is an opportunity to do something for ourselves, work hard and build a family."
Mohamud still experienced culture shock and suffered from homesickness upon arriving in New Zealand, but he said volunteering in the community helped him get through it.
He enrolled in studies at AUT University and would drive a cab at night to make ends meet.
Mohamud now works as a teacher aide for students with disabilities and volunteers in the community, helping kids from migrant and refugee backgrounds.
“I believe that if you get somewhere, you don't just stay, you go back – it's kind of a karma, to give back to the people – and that's a more fulfilling life,” Mohamud said.
“If you feel like you have done something, you went to school by yourself, you built something for yourself, there are others who are stuck in the basement."
Mohamud said he finally found a sense of belonging and acceptance in New Zealand.
"The good thing about moving here, you are given a chance at least. When you apply to university, you don't need to know anybody. Here, you want to make something of yourself, just prove it and show that you can do it,” he said.
"That makes you feel like you can contribute, and you feel like you belong. Nobody is asking you which community you come from.”
Mohamud decided to run for the local board to improve services in central Auckland and provide a unique perspective.
"Local government impacts a lot on the lives of people. When you wake up in the morning it's the water we drink, the lights outside, the pathway we take our children,” he said.
"These decisions are made by people, and I think it's important for someone like me to give an angle, a perspective, a worldview on some of the decisions that are made there that impact the communities."
A Stuff report found local government lacks diversity, with more councillors named John than councillors born after 1980.
Mohamud said he wants to change this.
"In any democracy, it is important for all voices to be heard,” he said.
"My motivation is to mentor other kids from this area who can see someone like me run for office, so that they can also run for office themselves tomorrow."