The sleepy village of Kabimoi yesterday bid farewell to one of their most famous sons, Jonathan Toroitich Kipkemboi Moi who was laid to rest late afternoon. Neighbours said he was a down to earth man, social and generous.
A man who never walked in the shadow of royalty but instead mingled freely with neighbours, living each moment with an open heart, his doors always open to those who sought help from him.
Since his death, portraits of the man, told through living memories of those who interacted with him, have continued to emerge. As he waited for his friend to come home and be put in his final resting place, Noah Chebii couldn’t help but reminisce about the good old days. The two men shared a decades-long friendship.
“He was a humble, down to earth man who loved fun,” Chebii said. “He behaved like a cowboy and loved living in the wild.” A fact accentuated by his love for country music and Clint Eastwood movies. His love for Western movies was so great that he named one of his sons after the Hollywood star.
Chebii, also the immediate former director of Eldama Ravine Water and Sewerage company and an engineer, also served as JT’s co-driver during the Safari Rally years.
Chebii’s journey into the cockpit started with him serving as a member of the driver’s service crew. At the time, Ibrahim Choge was JT’s co-driver. But before he belted up and took over from Ibrahim Choge, some training was necessary.
“He took me for training in Nairobi and later to South Africa for exposure,” Chebii says. “It is during this time that I met other rally legends such as Ian Duncan and Mike Doughty, who trained me”. He says one of his fondest memories came some 20 ago. “In 1992 we did well. JT was named the third best African Rally driver; in fact I was awarded a trophy for being the best African co-driver,” he said.
He also saw JT emerge third best in the 1991 Sanyo rally competition - one of the toughest rallies held during the rainy season.
He said they drove from Solai in Nakuru, through Tenges in Baringo to Kerio Valley then Eldoret and back to Nakuru. “We would get stuck but people would come to our rescue. They would see JT and say, he is Mzee Moi’s son, let us get him off the mud,” he said.
Chebii, also JT’s brother-in-law, said although the two were family, they also did business together. JT ran a chain of petrol stations, including a clearing and forwarding company. He also ran a successful farm in Kabimoi.
Issa Cherutich, another neighour, says JT was a simple man with an infectious smile who supported all. As JT was laid to rest, Kabimoi is slowly starting to get used of life without a man who meant so much to them.
“The village feels empty without him,” Cherutich says. Kabimoi, a settlement in Eldama Ravine, Baringo County, is few kilometres North of the equator crossing. The small township made of shops mostly located along the Eldama-Ravine-Nakuru Highway is where JT chose to have the family ranch and where his mother, Lena Moi, lived until she died in 2004.
The ranch provided a perfect location for relaxation after adrenaline-filled days. It is here that he established a home, where he lived with his wife Sylvia Toroitich and their four children.
After the rallying years, he retired here and settled into a life of farming. Together with other pioneers, JThelped fan the flames of love for the sport among Kenyans, with fans cheering their every gear change, urging them on and celebrating every podium finish as if they themselves were active participants in the rallies.
