Joyce Laboso, a woman of many firsts : The Standard

Dr Joyce Laboso made history in 2017 as one of the few women to become governor since the creation of the position in Kenya’s history While the governor position was an achievement enough, she already had another milestone in 2013 when she was elected as the first female deputy speaker of the National Assembly after general election. Against a culture that paid little attention to girl child education, Dr Laboso became among the first cohort of Kipsigis girls to go to school. Training as a teacher, she was a pioneer teacher of the French language. She was also among the Kipsigis girls pioneers to study abroad, having done her Masters Degree at the University of Reading and her PhD in University of Hull; both in the United Kingdom. Matriarchy could as well sit in the middle of her family. Her late sister Lorna Laboso was the first Kipsigis woman to be elected to parliament. Upon her demise, Joyce threw her weight into politics. She won the by-election with a landslide and equally earned herself a second term, 4 years later on account of her good performance. With this, she again made history as the first Kipsigis woman to be elected for two terms in parliament.

SEE ALSO :Protesting youth storm Bomet county assembly

In the national limelight which is well known to many Kenyans, she was elected as the first female Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly in a first round of voting while serving her second term in parliament. Furthering her front runner traits, she made her intentions known in 2014 that she would be running to be governor for Bomet. This was both a surprise and no surprise. A no surprise because of her history of breaking the ceiling. A surprise because in the election of 2013, (The first in the new constitution dispensation), there was no woman elected governor. So where were these ambitions coming from-some people would ask? Then came the mudslinging, typical of politics to a woman. She stood tall, worked hard and soldiered on. Her effort paid off when she was elected as the Bomet Governor in a Jubilee Party.

We are undertaking a survey to help us improve our content for you. This will only take 1 minute of your time, please give us your feedback by clicking HERE. All responses will be treated with the confidentiality that they deserve.

Related Topics

Joyce LabosoCancer