From varsity lecture room to politics, she always kept her cool

Henry Osano, Joyce Laboso’s brother-in-law, weeps after viewing her body at Lee Funeral Home, in Nairobi, yesterday. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Joyce Laboso was not a politician until the death of her sister, the feisty Lorna Laboso, who perished in a plane crash in 2008.

Until then a lecturer at Egerton University, she threw herself in the murky waters of politics, winning the Sotik parliamentary seat on ODM ticket.

As an MP, Dr Laboso quickly distinguished herself as a sober and assertive politician.

In 2013, she won her second term on a United Republic Party (URP) ticket and was subsequently elected Deputy Speaker. 

She, again, distinguished herself in the hot seat at a time the House was bitterly divided between Government forces and those of the Opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord).

Her position as Deputy Speaker came with a baptism of fire, as exemplified during the passage of the controversial Security laws, where she found herself in the middle of chaos pitting Government and Opposition MPs.

In the ensuing pandemonium, Laboso had her wig washed in water, as parliamentary orderlies worked hard to shield her from the commotion. 

One of her parliamentary staffers remembers her walking out of the chamber, drying her hair and generally taking the whole matter in her stride.

“She came out and dried her hair. She never took it bitterly. She saw it as part of her job,” said the former staffer.

Even at the height of the political battles between Jubilee and the Cord Coalition, Dr Laboso kept her cool and rarely would she grant controversial interviews.

Parliamentary and political reporters looking for hard-hitting political bites instinctively knew that they would not get them from Laboso.

On Mzalendo.com, a website that keeps an eye on Kenyan Parliament, she is portrayed as a development-minded leader.

“In her two terms she has prioritised development of roads, education, water and electricity within the constituency. She also had women issues close to her heart," states the site.

As first female Speaker, Laboso set the pace for other women parliamentarians struggling to find their space in a male-dominated Parliament.

In his condolence message, Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi described Laboso as an inspirational leader who led the way for other women politicians.

"Dr Laboso, who I served very closely with during my first term as Speaker of the National Assembly, has been a huge inspiration to women in leadership; a trail blazer who stood tall and soldiered on to make history as the first woman governor of Bomet County, having achieved another first when she got elected the first woman deputy Speaker of the National Assembly in the 11th Parliament," said the Speaker.

"At the National Assembly, Dr Laboso will be remembered as a humble, amiable, diligent and progressive lawmaker," he added.

Deal with scourge

His Senate counterpart Ken Lusaka challenged parliamentarians to support efforts to deal with the cancer scourge. 

“We have received the news with a lot of sadness. As Parliament, we need to come up with legislation to ensure that as many people as possible are tested for cancer and that we take care of our patients,” said Mr Lusaka.

Clerk of the National Assembly Michael Sialai described Laboso as a "wonderful, hardworking and forgiving person."

“I worked with her when she was MP and later as Deputy Speaker. She was a very hardworking person, but also very forgiving. Even after what happened to her during the passage of the Security laws, she never took anything to heart," said Mr Sialai.

In Parliament, news of her death was received with shock.

A session of the House Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was briefly interrupted after news broke that the governor had died. Members observed a moment of silence in honour of the departed governor.

Dr Laboso will be remembered in her role as the Head of the Kenyan delegation to the African Caribbean and Pacific-European Union (ACP-EU) General Assembly, towards the realisation of the Economic Partnership agreement between Kenya and EU.