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Beating all odds: Lessons from Bomet Governor elect Dr. Joyce Laboso

Achieving Woman

When history books are written, names of three women will feature prominently alongside that of trendsetters like Wangari Mathai. I’m talking of Dr Joyce Cherono Laboso, Charity Kaluki Ngilu and Ann Mumbi Waiguru, the first female governors in Kenya.

While all the three have made history, today I choose to specifically focus on Madam Joyce Cherono Laboso also known as Mrs Obonyo because of her remarkable journey to top echelons of power.

Risk taker

For those who may not be in the know, Dr Joyce Laboso, 56, got into politics by mere chance. Prior to her joining politics, she was a lecturer at Egerton University, going her daily business of teaching. But on June 10, 2008 things changed radically. As fate would have it, her elder sister former Sotik MP Lorna Laboso perished in a plane crash, pushing Joyce into the unfamiliar territory of politics.

That fateful day, she was in a supermarket when her husband called her with the tragic news. And just like that, her life changed. Her sister left a huge vacuum and the party wanted her to fill it. Given that she was a greenhorn, she did not envision herself stepping into Lorna’s big shoes but after much convincing from the party, she took a step of faith. And that is how the humble girl from Sotik found herself in the murky world of politics. Though she was a new comer, her star started to shine immediately she joined Parliament.

Within a few years, she rose to be Kenya’s first female Deputy Speaker.

She stood up to her bullies

In the campaign trail for the Governor’s seat, one of the weapons her opponents were using against her was the fact that she is married to one Mr Obonyo. Many a times in rallies, she was booed by hostile youth who labelled her an outsider. Tired of the tirade, one day she told them off at a funeral: “I have not broken a record by getting married to a non-Kalenjin. I am not the first from Bomet. Give me a break,” she was quoted in the media. And she thundered on: “Yes! Obonyo is my name and it belongs to my husband. That will not stop me from vying for Governorship.” With that powerful message, she silenced her detractors for good.

Humble to a fault

Ask anybody who knows Madam Laboso, or has interacted closely with her and they will tell you, one of the traits that stand out is her humility. Despite the many achievements under her cap, madam mingles freely with everybody from villagers in Bomet to her colleagues in Parliament.

Loves God

There is nothing as beautiful as an accomplished woman who fears God. When she was interviewed for the first time after securing the Sotik seat, when asked about what she attributes her rise in politics to she told the reporter “It can only be God... I don’t believe anything happens by chance...”

Laboso has indeed proved to the women of Kenya that with a daring attitude, focus and God, all things are possible.

The writer is a married working mother of a toddler boy and a pre-school girl. She shares her experience of juggling between career, family and social life.

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