Governor Joyce Laboso to be buried in Kisumu County, husband Edwin Abonyo announces

Governor Joyce Laboso to be buried in Kisumu County

Mumbi Mutuko

July 30, 2019 12:13 PM

Dr Laboso's husband announces burial plans

Edwin Abonyo, husband to Dr Joyce Laboso, with DP William Ruto at Lee funeral home

Bomet governor Joyce Laboso will be buried at her Fort Ternan home in Koru, Kisumu County.

This was announced by her husband Edwin Abonyo, following the demise of the governor on Monday.

Dr Joyce Laboso, 58, on Monday passed on at the Nairobi Hospital after a long battle against cancer.

The Bomet governor will be remembered as being among first women governors to be elected during the 2017 elections in Kenya.

Bomet Governor Joyce Laboso Pulse Live Kenya

A woman of many firsts

In 2013, Laboso became the first female Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly where she held the position until 2017 when she sought the Bomet Governor’s seat.

Dr Laboso was married to businessman Edwin Abonyo with whom they had three sons.

She was proud of her marriage even as political detractors sought to use it as a political weapon in a country where patriarchy is deeply rooted.

“Yes! Obonyo is my name and it belongs to my husband and it does not matter the number of times you shout. That will not stop me from vying for governorship. I was born in Bomet and I am a voter and I am here to stay."

"It is the voters who will have the last say and I know they will make an objective decision,” She said after a politician from the county challenged her to seek a political seat in Kisumu where her husband hails from.

Ken Okoth's relatives want Luo customs followed in burial

Kibra MP Kenneth Odhiambo Okoth Pulse Live Kenya

Elsewhere, the paternal family of Kibra MP Ken Okoth who passed away on July 26, is seeking to have him buried in his father home in Kochia Homa Bay County.

According to the family, Okoth should be buried in his father’s home as per Luo traditions.

During an interview with Daily Nation, where he spoke of his upbringing, Okoth said that his father abandoned the family early in his life, leaving his mother, Angelina to bring them up as a single mum.

Mumbi Mutuko