Curtain falls on former cabinet minister John Koech, who dared to resign under Moi
Koech is famously known for resigning from his assistant ministerial role through the press after being denied entry to Nakuru State House during former President Daniel Moi’s reign.
Former cabinet minister John Koech has passed away.
His family confirmed Koech, who was the longest-serving Member of Parliament for Chepalungu Constituency in Bomet, died after a long illness at a Nairobi hospital.
More To Read
Koech served as cabinet minister for the East African Community between 2006 and 2007 under former President Mwai Kibaki.
He served as Chepalungu MP from 1979 to 1990 and then from 2003 to 2007.
Koech is famously known for resigning from his assistant ministerial role through the press after being denied entry to Nakuru State House during former President Daniel Moi’s reign.
One day, after a graduation ceremony at Egerton University in Njoro, Koech made his way to Moi’s home for the customary luncheon that followed such events, only to be denied entry.
Livid at the humiliation, he headed straight to the Nation Media Group’s Nakuru Bureau and wrote a resignation letter that was published the next day.
Retracted letter
Nobody knows what transpired overnight but the next morning, he called a press conference retracting his letter.
He was back on the job, having learned the bitter lesson that when you were appointed by Moi at that time, you served purely at his pleasure. No matter how tough the going got, resignation was never an option. This marked the start of an uneasy relationship with his boss.
Born in 1946 in Olbutyo, Chepalungu, Koech attended Segemik Primary School and later Tenwek High School for his O’ and A’ level education. From Tenwek, he went to Makerere University in Uganda, graduating in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.
From 1973 to 1975, he worked as a high school teacher and later, from 1976 to 1979, as an education officer.
Early in his budding career as an educationist, he attempted to venture into the rough and tumble of politics by vying for the Chepalungu parliamentary seat, but he emerged second after the incumbent, Kimunai arap Soi.
He eventually triumphed in the 1979 General Election, the first after Moi became President following the death of Jomo Kenyatta.
In 1990, his relationship with Moi and KANU worsened and he was subsequently expelled from the party, the only political outfit at the time. A by-election was called, and Soi was elected to take Koech’s seat.
He cooled his heels in the political cold until 1992, when he was pardoned. In December of that year, he wrested the seat from Soi.
After spending some time as a backbencher, shortly before the 1997 General Election, a now-reformed Koech was reappointed to the Cabinet after Kipkalya Kones was sacked as Minister for State in the Office of the President.
Top Stories Today
