Umi Mohamed Heri is an ambulance driver from Mpeketoni, Lamu County.
She has been working as an ambulance driver for the last 33 years, making her a household name among Lamu residents.
She is also the mother of former Lamu Senator Anwar Oloitiptip.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
A native of Lamu County, Umi kicked off her career at Lamu before she was posted to Moi International Airport, Mombasa.
She worked at the airport’s public health department before being transferred to Laikipia General Hospital in Nanyuki.
Umi worked at the Nanyuki hospital as an ambulance until 2000 when she moved back to Lamu where she works to date.
“I intend to work as an ambulance driver until my retirement,” she said.
Umi noted that she was first employed as a subordinate staff, a role that she held for a short time.
“I worked for a short time as a subordinate staff because I wanted to help the sick and people from my community
“That’s when I decided to be an ambulance driver because I’m not a trained nurse or doctor,” she said in an interview with Citizen TV.
She did driving and after completing her training, she was employed as an ambulance driver at the Moi International Airport.
At her current station, she worked as a sole driver for over 10 years when an additional driver was brought on board.
Umi mentioned the insecurity in Lamu County a some of the challenges that she has to deal with in the course of her work.
“I get calls all the time, I don’t have a specific time that I report to work. The number of trips per day depends,” she said.
Umi is former Lamu Senator Anwar Loitiptip’s mother.
In 2020, the former senator gifted his mother a palatial home. He had been constructing the mansion and handed it over to his mother after it’s completion.
