{"id":277,"date":"2020-05-03T19:53:05","date_gmt":"2020-05-03T19:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kalenjin.co.ke\/?p=277"},"modified":"2020-12-19T15:49:21","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T15:49:21","slug":"life-and-times-of-dr-joyce-laboso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/?p=277","title":{"rendered":"Life and times of Dr Joyce Cherono Laboso"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
The late Dr Joyce Cherono Laboso. Photo\/Courtesy<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Seamless smile coupled with dark\nchocolate complexion, Dr. Joyce Cherono Laboso was not an ordinary village\ngirl. She was self-effacing to the extreme and eschewed publicity while excellently\nserving her people. Described by those close to her as shy and conservative,\ndoctors at United Kingdom were taken aback when she refused to be treated with the\nhonor that befits a governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At her matrimonial home, Dr.\nLaboso was a typical mother and wife blending both Luo and Kalenjin cultures.\nSpeaking to the Journalists, her son Brian Ochieng Kibet said that mursik\n(fermented milk) and obambla (dry tilapia fish) was her favourite meal.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born on the 25th<\/sup>\nNovember 1960 at Konoin in Bomet County, Dr Laboso assumed responsibilities at\na younger age being the first born child to the late Fredrick Laboso and the\nlate Mrs. Rebecca Laboso. The family later moved to Manaret village in Sotik sub-county\nwhere they settled permanently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born at the time and place\noverrun by culture and beliefs. Education then was treated as a manly affair\nbut like many other academics of her generation, Dr. Laboso weathered countless\nchallenges and rose to become the first Kalenjin woman governor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Dr Laboso started her primary\neducation at Kaminjeiwet Primary School and later moved to Molo Primary School.\nShe attended Kaplong Girls Secondary School for her \u201cO\u201d levels and later Kenya\nHigh School for \u201cA\u201d level education. Upon completion, Dr Laboso joined Kenyatta\nUniversity to pursue a bachelor of arts course in French, Literature and\nEducation. She then undertook a Postgraduate diploma course in teaching French\nat the University of Paul Valery in France. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1990, she enrolled for a master\u2019s\ndegree in teaching English as a foreign language at the University of Reading\nin United Kingdom. In 2006, she obtained her PhD in Gender and Language\nEducation at the University of Hull in UK. A fete that put her as one of the\nfirst Kipsigis women to obtain a doctorate degree from a foreign University. She\nwas a career educationist having started as a teacher of English at Kipsigis\nGirls High School in Kericho in 1985. From 2002 to 2006, she worked as an\nassistant lecturer and dean of students at Farrow House Education Centre, UK.\nIt is during this time that she pursued her doctorate degree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2007, she travelled back to Kenya\nand secured a place at Egerton University as a lecturer of French. She was\nlater appointed the coordinator of Communication, Media, Library and\nInformation Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

It was almost predictable that Dr. Joyce Laboso would switch to politics at some point in time considering that her mother was a councillor in Sotik while her late sister, Lorna Laboso was a member of parliament for Sotik Constituency. Lorna was a vibrant and most admired female politician in the Kipsigis land. She unfortunately passed on together with the celebrated Kipkalia Kones through a fatal plane crash in 2008. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the death of Lorna, Orange\nDemocratic Movement (ODM), decided to take the seat back to the family in her\nhonor. Dr Laboso, albeit very shy and green in the murky political waters,\nmanaged to clinch the seat and became a member of parliament for Sotik\nConstituency from 2008 to 2013. In one of her campaign trails, her opponents\ncited that she was married to one, \u201cObonyo\u201d. Many times, she was booed by\nhostile crowd that labelled her an outsider. She was unbowed. She garnered\n23,880 votes against her closest challenger, Brigadier Alexander Sitienei who got\n13,843 votes.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Joyce Laboso served her\nconstituents with intelligence and diligence. She championed for quality\neducation, good road networks, clean water and electricity hence setting an\nexemplary leadership record in the country. She won the trust of the\nconstituents and news of her good leadership swept across Sotik constituency\nlike wild fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owing to her outstanding\ndevelopment record, she was re-elected for the second term in 2013 general\nelections on a URP ticket thus becoming the first woman from Bomet to serve two\nterms in parliament and the first Bomet MP to defend her seat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After her re-election, her\npolitical career blossomed making her become the apple of her constituent\u2019s\neyes. Dr Laboso was elected the first woman deputy speaker of the National\nAssembly where she carried out her duties with professionalism par excellence. While\nserving as the member of parliament, Dr Laboso sat in several parliamentary\ncommittees including the Women Parliamentary Association, Education, Liaison\nCommittee and House Business.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, Dr Laboso plunged deeper\ninto political waters tackling the suave political titan Isaac Ruto of Chama\nCha Mashinani. The epic battle for the Bomet County\u2019s gubernatorial seat proved\nthe salt in Dr Laboso\u2019s leadership style. She not only won the seat but she\ntrounced the political giant of Bomet politics- Isaac Ruto.  The contest was laced with national political\nundertones pitting President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto and\nRaila Odinga on the other side. Isaac Ruto of Chama cha Mashinani was aligned\nto Odinga\u2019s National Super Alliance Coalition while Dr Laboso\u2019s ticket belonged\nto Jubilee Party. The two slogans \u201cKiwole\u201d and \u201cMokiwole\u201d which means change\nfor Joyce and remain for Isaac took sway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dr Joyce Laboso at her office in Bomet County<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dr Laboso emerged victorious\nsweeping 67.2% of the total votes. Together with Charity Ngilu of Kitui County\nand Ann Waiguru of Kirinyaga County, Dr Laboso become pioneer woman governor. She\nwas later elected as the Chairperson for Finance and Education Committee at the\nCouncil of Governors and Deputy Chair, Lake Region Economic Bloc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dr Joyce Laboso and husband Dr Edwin Abonyo<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Marriage  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1983, the marriage bag hit the\nyoung Laboso but the love went against her father\u2019s wishes and expectations.\nAccording to her husband Dr. Edward Abonyo, their path of marriage was rough\nbut they withstood pricking thorns on their way to become the most admirable\nfamily. Her father, Fredrik Laboso a fierce reputable man expressed strong\nopposition towards their courtship citing his discomfort in her daughter getting\nmarried to a non-Kalenjin. Dr Laboso, however, stood firm with Dr Abonyo and their\nunion withstood the test of time running into 36 good years. The family was\nblessed with two sons; Bryan Abonyo and Ted Abonyo and later fostered Marco\nLaboso. Dr Laboso was a responsible, hardworking, dedicated and a no-nonsense\nmother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dr Joyce Laboso and Dr Edwin Abonyo together with their three sons<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At one of the political rallies\nin 2017, some supporters of Isaac Ruto cheered \u201cAbonyo\u2026Abonyo\u201d trying to\ndiscredit Dr Laboso for marrying a Luo man, she just replied, \u201cthat\u2019s my\nhusband\u201d and the story ended there. While starting her political journey in\n2008, Dr Laboso temporarily dropped her husband\u2019s name so as to endear herself\nto the people of Sotik, this worked out very well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Laboso though in silence,\nbravely battled against cancer for three decades. She was first diagnosed with colon\ncancer in 1991 but she was not the person that gives up at the sight of a\nmountain to climb. The passionate and ardent leader went ahead to achieve her\ngoals in life. Even after receiving the stunning news of an incurable disease, Dr\nLaboso soldiered on and enrolled for her master\u2019s degree and later PhD. According\nto her husband, Dr Laboso kept her pain and grieve from the public and her\nclosest friends. \u201cMy wife lived her life despite excruciating pain and I can\nsay yes, my love has rested\u201d Dr. Abonyo told the press.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She went in and out of hospitals\nin Kenya and India before the disease struck with full force in March 2019. On\nMay 29th<\/sup> the family sought medical attention in Royal Madden\nHospital in the UK and later BLK Super Specialty Hospital, India in a desperate\nmove to lengthen her life but things hit a brick wall. Doctors informed them\nthat nothing much could be done to save the life of a 58-year old Governor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While in Britain, NASA leader\nRaila Odinga, Ambassador Manoah Esipisu, Chief Justice David Maraga and Kericho\nGovernor Professor Paul Chepkwony visited her. Former Bomet Governor Hon. Isaac\nRuto also paid her a visit while in India. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She jetted back home on July 14th<\/sup> 2019 where she was put under close surveillance at Nairobi Hospital. As fate would have it, curtain fell on the loved, admired and dedicated scholar and politician on the 29th<\/sup> July 2019.<\/strong> A dark gloomy cloud hovered in the country. News of her sudden demise swept across the Kalenjin nation evoking sharp memories of cancer devouring the children of Israel.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Joyce Laboso was a prayerful\nwoman and a strong believer of a just society. She advocated the space of women\nin leadership and passionately championed for truth, justice and transparency.\nShe was laid to rest on Saturday 3rd<\/sup> August at her matrimonial home at\nKoru village in Kisumu County. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seamless smile coupled with dark chocolate complexion, Dr. Joyce Cherono Laboso was not an ordinary…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prominent-kalenjins"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277"}],"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=277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}