MP: Walking barefoot in House helped me retain my seat

Rangwe MP Lilian Gogo has revealed how walking bare footed enabled her to become a Member of Parliament.Dr Gogo, who is serving her second term in Pparliament, believes that walking barefooted in Parliament made her win parliamentary election and re-election in 2017 and 2022.The MP recalled how she removed her shoes and carried them as she walked bare foot in parliament when she was called as a guest in 2013. That time, she was a lecturer at Egerton University.

By then, she had begun yearning to be a Member of Parliament for Rangwe. That day, Dr Gogo had been called to Parliament by the then Nyatike MP Omondi Anyanga. Upon reaching the gate, she removed her shoes and began walking bare footed. She walked without shoes to the lounge."Anyanga called me to pay him a courtesy call in parliament. People were staring at me but I was comfortable because it was my choice," Gogo says.Questions lingered in minds of many people who saw Dr Gogo walking without shoes in such a highly respected site. What made her stand out was that though she walked barefeet, she was impeccably dressed.

Many wondered what she was up toBut almost 11 years down the line, Dr Gogo has come out to reveal why she walked in Parliament without shoes.Speaking at the constituency headquarters in Rangwe town during the launch of an empowerment programme for jobless graduate youths who completed universities and tertiary colleges, Dr Gogo said she removed the shoes to enable her become an MP.She said her decision to remove the shoes came in compliance with biblical teachings which require people to remove shoes from their feet when speaking to God.For example, Joshua 5:15 reads, "And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, 'Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.' And Joshua did so."

The MP believes that standing in a place on bare feet enables one to own a place. Therefore, walking in Parliament without shoes made her own the place hence her success in the past two polls."Many people did not know what had happened but truth is that I had complied with biblical teaching and owned parliament by walking barefooted. That is why former MP George Oner could not defeat me in the parliamentary race. I had to win," Dr Gogo said.Her testimony was aimed at encouraging youths in the constituency to be committed in whatever they do to enhance their success. She told the youth who are in the empowerment programme to have confidence in what they are pursuing.

"I want our young people to have confidence and faith in what they are doing to enable them succeed in the endeavours of job seeking," the MP added.In the newly launched programme, the MP is identifying graduates who have stayed for many years without employment.The MP has so far identified 38 jobless youths who have now formed a group christened Critical Thirty-Eight.In the programme, the youth come together and are mentored by various professionals. In the mentorship, they are taught how to acquire government jobs from various media platforms in which they are advertised.

The jobs include both tender and white collar jobs.Gogo expressed concerns over the high number of youths who are jobless despite graduating more than five years ago.Dr Gogo said the programme is aimed at mentoring the graduates to enable them get jobs.