How destiny shaped Joyce Laboso's political career

Bomet Governor Joyce Laboso holding a baby at Mogogosiek Baby Home in Konoin on July 1, 2018. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • She was comfortable with her teaching career. She was only forced to step in her sister’s shoes, something she said she did reluctantly and with a lot of convincing.
  • ODM, the party on whose ticket her sister had been elected, had given the seat back to the family; and she was the family’s choice in the by-election that followed.

It was on a late afternoon on June 10, 2008, Dr Joyce Cherono Laboso, then a lecturer at Egerton University, had stopped by a Nakuru supermarket to shop for some household items after morning lectures at the institution.

She was sampling items displayed on the shelves when she saw a breaking news on the television screen. Just then her phone rang.

It was her husband, Dr Edwin Abonyo. He was calling to ask if she had ‘heard.’ A plane had crashed in a small hill in the Enoosupkia Forest near the Masai Mara.

Among those on board were her sister Ms Lorna Laboso, then an assistant minister, and then Minister for Roads Kipkalya Kones. There were no survivors.

She went numb, staring at the screens. Just then a colleague from the university rushed to hold her and assisted her walk to the car.

What followed were moments of shock, grief and mourning of the departure of her younger sister whose political star was only beginning to rise.

TEACHING

What she didn’t know is that events of this day would significantly alter the path of her life, as she would be elected to replace her sister as the Sotik MP.

Barely five years since the tragedy, she would become Kenya’s first female deputy speaker.

From a high schoolteacher to a university lecturer, MP and deputy speaker then, she strongly believed hers was a story of destiny. “I don’t believe anything happens by chance and I don’t believe God does anything for nothing,” she said.

In an interview as Kenya's first female deputy speaker, Dr Laboso opened up on her journey in politics, disclosing that a lot of things played into getting her to the seat that has put her in the annals of Kenya’s history.

Before her sister’s demise, the mother of two had never considered politics for any chapter of her life.

She was comfortable with her teaching career. She was only forced to step in her sister’s shoes, something she said she did reluctantly and with a lot of convincing.

VOCATION

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), the party on whose ticket her sister had been elected, had given the seat back to the family, and she was the family’s choice in the by-election that followed. She was too convinced that it was not her calling.

She was certain she would not go through the nomination. She agreed to honour the offer to run in the by-election, ‘so as not to disappoint anyone for rejecting it’.

It was therefore a big surprise when she sailed through the nomination and finally got elected the MP for Sotik.

As fate would have it, just after a short stay in Parliament, Eldoret East MP Margaret Kamar, who was a member of the Speaker’s Panel, was appointed to the Cabinet, leaving her post vacant. That is how she got proposed to replace her.

It came too soon, but she found it interesting learning the ropes of her new role.

TOUGH JOB

And seemingly, perhaps to confirm her belief that hers was a story of destiny, little did she know that the chance at the Speaker’s chair as a Temporary Speaker was only meant to prepare her for the seat on an official status in just a few years.

It was only after her re-election on March 28, 2013 that it dawned on her that this was indeed a story of her political destiny shaping up.

Just as she got elected to the Sotik seat in 2008, she believed her election as Deputy Speaker of the Kenya National Assembly was also a chapter in the story of her unfolding destiny.

“It’s not easy being a Speaker,” she said in our interview. “Politics really is an arena of interest. You are constantly juggling between different interests so that MPs see you as the most impartial and not see any trace of bias,” she said.

There were occasions when she had to throw even some of her closest friends out of the House for disorderly conduct. They included Ms Milly Odhiambo and Ms Rachael Shebesh. “It is not personal but really this is about serious business in the House,” she quipped.

INTEGRITY

And because of this, she said, her colleagues realised she was impartial and consistently fair to everyone regardless of party.

It can be hard when moderating a House sitting especially when emotions are charged. “When everyone is up and wants to speak, that is when you must exercise your skills to ensure balance,” she stated.

She recalled issuing an order barring Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, then-Minister for Finance, from transacting any business in the House until he had furnished lawmakers with some information that was required. He complied, really fast for that matter and that impressed her.

“It was interesting to see how much power you can have when on that seat; that you can issue orders and they are complied with,” she said.

The most challenging moments for the Speaker, she said was when there were conflicts in the House.

“Sometimes it's not nice at all,” she said, recalling an incident when an MP refused to speak to her for a long time because she had thrown him out of the House for unruly behaviour during a heated debate.

GENDER AFFAIRS

There is one time though when she was accused of favouring women MPs.

And she confessed that it was on a matter that touched on women and she felt the female legislators would give more substance to the debate.

On this, she said if there was any chance for her to use her new position to advance the women agenda positively, she wouldn’t hesitate to do so.

“I don’t think it would be a crime if in the discharge of my duties as a Speaker I can also advance the women agenda, because Parliament is where laws are made,” she said.

She was elated on her new role as Kenya’s first lady Deputy Speaker. She had confessed that sometimes she missed the classroom.

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Here are 10 facts about her:

1. She was the firstborn in a family of six — four boys and two girls. “As a firstborn, I used to solve problems within the family. I was the voice of reason whenever my brothers and sister had a conflict. That was my first test of leadership,” she said in a previous interview.

2. She was the head girl at Molo Primary School and later joined Kenya High School where she was a senior prefect.

3. She graduated with a Bachelor of Education in Arts (French, Literature and Education) from Kenyatta University. She later pursued her master's degree in Reading and doctorate at the University of Hull in the United Kingdom.

4. She was married to Dr Edwin Abonyo, a former manager at Finlays Kenya. Her marriage to a Luo was used by her political rivals to campaign against her gubernatorial candidature.

5. Dr Laboso leaves behind two sons, Bryan and Ted. Her firstborn is in Australia, while the second-born is training to be a pilot in South Africa.

She adopted her sister's son, who sat his KCSE exams at Kabarak High in 2016.

6. She was a French lecturer in the Language and Linguistics department at Egerton University before joining politics.

7. Joyce Laboso joined politics following the death of her sister, Lorna, who died in a plane crash in June 10, 2008. She replaced her sister as the Sotik MP in a by-election. She later founded Lorna Laboso Memorial School, an ultra-modern girl’s school, in memory of her sister.

8. Dr Laboso had a love for African music and would dance to rhumba music for hours. She also loved working out. She also loved reading. Her favourite book was From Third World to Firs’ by Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew.

9. On life after politics, she had seen herself spending her time writing books. She was keen on writing an autobiography.

10. She spent two months in India and the United Kingdom seeking treatment. She passed away on Monday.