{"id":135,"date":"2019-12-02T05:02:58","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T05:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kalenjin.co.ke\/?p=135"},"modified":"2020-11-17T13:47:12","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T13:47:12","slug":"hon-zakayo-kipkemoi-cheruiyot-mp-mgh-ss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/?p=135","title":{"rendered":"From district officer to powerful permanent secretary: Zakayo Kipkemoi Cheruiyot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Hon Zakayo Cheruiyot, MP, MGH, SS<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Z.K. Cheruiyot, as he is popularly known, is the immediate former Member of Parliament for Kuresoi South Constituency. He is a career public administrator and an astute political strategist.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hon. Cheruiyot was born in 1954 at Kapsogut\nvillage in Bureti Constituency, Kericho County.  His father, arap Komuilong, was an Assistant Chief\nto arap Tengecha, the Chief, during the colonial period. Cheruiyot attended Kapsogut\nPrimary School prior to joining Litein High School and later Chesamis High\nSchool for his A level education. The revered administrator holds a bachelor\u2019s\ndegree in Literature and Governance from the University of Nairobi and a Postgraduate\nDiploma in Development Studies from the Birmingham University in the UK. He is widely\ntrained in public administration and has undergone major short courses on\nadministration and management at the Kenya School of Government (formerly,\nKenya Institute of Administration). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public Administration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hon. Cheruiyot has vast experience and a remarkable\ntrack record in public administration; he launched his career as a District\nOfficer (DO), before rising through the ranks to the position of Deputy\nProvincial Commissioner for Rift Valley from 1987 to 1997. The period between 1997\nand 2003, saw Cheruiyot reach the zenith of his administrative career following\nhis appointment as the Permanent Secretary (PS) for Internal Security by former\nPresident, Daniel Toroitich arap Moi (1978-2002). He is credited for\nstreamlining the security docket; reforming the uniformed forces and silencing\nmilitias and illegal groupings. To date, the impact of his reign as the Permanent\nSecretary in the Internal Security docket still reverberates. It is important\nto note, that during his term, there was no minister for internal security thus\nhe reported directly to the President.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Political Career <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hon. Cheruiyot\u2019s political career begun after his\nearly retirement from public administration following the triumphant entry of National\nRainbow Coalition (NARC) regime led by former President Mwai Kibaki (2003-2013).\nDuring the 2007 General Elections, Cheruiyot contested and ousted Hon. Moses\nCheboi in Kuresoi Constituency before it was sub-divided into North and South. His\nsuccess was to a large extent, attributed to the development record and issues management\nas an opinion leader in the area during his reign as a career administrator.\nServing as the area MP from 2007-2013, Cheruiyot utilized the Constituency\nDevelopment Fund (CDF) allocations to further his development oriented record\noccasioning his re-election in 2013. His \u201cAmani\nna Kazi\u201d<\/em> slogan bore fruits that saw improvement in education and economic\nwelfare of his constituents; spurring infrastructural development as well as fostering\npeaceful coexistence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hon. Cheruiyot remains one of the greatest political\npillars, having championed the formation of the United Republican Party (URP) which\nhas since been dissolved and merged to form the Jubilee Party. He decamped to\nChama Cha Mashinani together with former Bomet Governor H.E. Isaac Ruto. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His other roles as an MP<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his term as the area MP for Kuresoi\nConstituency (2007-2013), Cheruiyot was a Commissioner at the Parliamentary\nService Commission. In his other term as Kuresoi South Constituency legislator,\nhe was a member of the Security Committee and House Business Committee of the\nParliament as well as Kenyan representative at Pan-African Parliament based in\nSouth Africa.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passion and Development Record <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The social economic transformative power inherent\nin education is a realization that was deeply inculcated in Cheruiyot\u2019s mind at\nan early age. His substantial investment in educational facilities is informed\nby his tacit conviction and belief that \u2013<\/strong> education is an effective weapon for confronting poverty\nand enhancing social equity. Cheruiyot has read extensively in the fields of\nmanagement, leadership, literature, development, administration and history. The\nreading has not only enriched his knowledge base but also sharpened his administrative\nacumen and widened his worldview on various critical social issues. His\nreadership and leadership skills are unparalleled. He was once quoted in a local\ndaily newspaper saying, God gave him sufficient wisdom. Anyone who has had a\nchance to interact with him can attest to this fact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right from his home village in Bureti to his own\nvillage in Kuresoi, Cheruiyot has sponsored development in many primary and\nsecondary schools. During his tenure as the PS for Internal Security, he\nconstructed Moi Secondary School-Amalo and Emitik Girls Secondary School. Both\nschools are today glowing case studies of the best institutions in the area. As\nthe area MP, Hon. Cheruiyot founded and funded the construction of day\nsecondary schools in every sub-location. This initiative has substantially\ncontributed to enhanced access to affordable education opportunities in Kuresoi\nSouth Constituency. His education agenda has also seen the transformation of old\ndilapidated classrooms for various schools into modern, learner-friendly facilities.\nHis ultimate goal and dream was to pioneer the establishment of a university in\nKuresoi South Constituency.  This,\nhowever, was cut short in 2017 when he lost the seat to a Jubilee Party\ncandidate. At the time of leaving office, he had already appointed a panel of\nexperts drawn from university professors and education professionals who had\nalready identified land at Keringet Shopping Centre where the university was to\nbe set up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The importance of a healthy populace in fostering national\ndevelopment has not escaped his attention: under his watch, the health sector at\nconstituency level has been fundamentally transformed. Hon. Cheruiyot has\nensured that there is a health facility in every location. In addition, there have\nbeen laudable improvements in agriculture, roads and security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheruiyot has been a great champion of the\nsquatter resettlement and is largely credited for resettling the landless in\nKuresoi. The former Kuresoi South legislator also advocated lifting of land\ncaveat imposed in the late 90s in parts of the Constituency so that the owners could\nhave clean titles and transact business easily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personal Attributes <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hon. Cheruiyot is a suave, bold and pragmatic\nleader. As a person and a public servant, his passion is serving the common mwananchi<\/em>. As a charismatic leader, Cheruiyot\nis an ardent supporter for inter-ethnic peaceful coexistence in the region that\nis home to various ethnic communities. His approach to issues is skillfully diplomatic,\nthus endearing him to a cross section of the multi-ethnic population. He\nstarted an Annual Peace Marathon in 2011 that demonstrated his steadfast commitment\nto national cohesion and integration initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religious Beliefs <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Z.K. Cheruiyot, a family man and a father of four,\nprofesses Christianity and is a great follower of Jesus Christ. His mastery of\nthe Bible teachings is impressive. He has supported construction of churches\nacross the Kipsigis region and in particular, Kuresoi South Constituency. Despite\nbeing a devoted believer of African Inland Church (AIC), Hon. Cheruiyot\noccasionally attends church services and harambees<\/em>\nin all other churches.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awards <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For his exemplary and distinguished service to the\nCountry, Hon. Zakayo Cheruiyot has been decorated and honoured with the Moran\nof the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya (MGH) and the Silver Star of Kenya\n(SS). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Z.K. Cheruiyot, as he is popularly known, is the immediate former Member of Parliament for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-prominent-kalenjins"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}