Didmus Barasa is a Kenyan politician currently serving as the Kimilili member of parliament. He can be described as daring and courageous as he has never shied away from expressing his opinions. When the Hustler movement began, he was at the forefront, praising and dancing to the tune of the deputy president William Ruto until recently when he announced a break. The then vocal member of the DP’s tangatanga team was known for his disparaging salvos directed at ODM leader Raila Odinga. Here is his biography as told by Prudence Minayo.
Education
From 1996 to 2000, he attended Kimilili Boys Secondary School (currently St Luke’s Kimilili Boys High School.
He went on to join Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) to undertake Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
|
From |
To |
Education Institution |
Qualification |
| 2008 | 2009 | The University of Sydney, Australia | Graduate Diploma in Security Systems Audit |
| 2008 | 2009 | The University of Queensland, Australia | Master of Occupational, Health, Security and Safety Science (Distinction) |
| 2001 | 2005 | Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology | Bachelor of Science in electrical & Electronic Engineering (2nd class Honors Upper Division) |
| 1996 | 2000 | Kimilili Secondary School | Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education |
He pursued his Master’s at the University of Queensland, Australia, where he specialized in Occupational, Health, Security and Safety Science.
Career
According to his profile, before going to pursue his Master’s degree, he worked for the military. He served at Kenya Air force at the technical wing before rising to become captain.
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He left the military to go to Australia for his Master’s degree and while in Australia worked as a corporate manager at Shell.
Upon returning to Kenya, he worked at a logistics company which has operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes.
Barasa joined politics and in 2017 vied for the Kimilili parliamentary seat on a Jubilee ticket. He won and is currently serving his first term.
The Kimilili lawmaker has been a member of the Tanga Tanga group which supports deputy president William Ruto. However, in March, he announced he was taking a break from the deputy president’s camp.
“I will not be involved in the high stakes politics for the next four months,” he said.
“I have not quit the Hustler nation but will be taking a four-month leave as recently recommended by president Uhuru Kenyatta.”
He further added he will be communicating with a number of stakeholders and like-minded leaders in the Luhya community. This is because he was keen to reconcile with fractions within the community so as to stop the divisions that have prevented them from getting benefits.
|
From |
To |
Employer/Institution |
Position Held |
| 2017 | To date | Kenya National Assembly | Member of Parliament, Kimilili Constituency |
| 2012 | To date | Regional qhse manager ea | Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Djibouti, Ethiopia, DRC and Great Lakes BOLLORE AFRICA LOGISTICS. |
| 2007 | 2012 | SHELL CO. LTD, AUSTRALIA | COPORATE Q-HSE MANAGER |
| 2001 | 2007 | The Kenya Armed Forces | Tech.Wing (KAF) Captain |
3.Membership to Committees (12th Parliament):
|
From |
To |
Committee |
Position Held |
|
2017 |
To date |
Departmental Committee on Administration & National Security |
Member |
|
2017 |
To date |
Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Committee |
Member |
Trivia
The Member of Parliament is no novice when it comes to trivia. On a number of occasions, he has been accused of various things including:
- In 2018, he was accused of failing to pay a Ksh1,000,000 furniture debt. He issued businessman Dan Simiyu a fake local purchase order. In a report filed at Central police station OB number 67/14/05/2018, Simiyu stated he supplied Barasa with furniture for his house in Nairobi.
- A 2019 article on The Standard 2019 reported that Janet Tomboy, a woman who owns Blue Hippo Cleaning Services based in Westland’s Madonna house, claimed the legislator had conned her of kes2.6 million claiming he would help her secure a cleaning contract.
- In December 2019, he was heckled during the burial of the son of former vice president Kijana Wamalwa, William Makali. He made some daring remarks against ODM leader Raila Odinga saying he would do everything to ensure he does not become president come 2022. He also promised to unleash vengeance on the ODM leader due to how he was treated in Kibra by ODM supporters. He went on to ask Saboti MP, Caleb Amisi to leave ODM or he would lose his seat come 2022. The crowd jeered him and he was forced to cut his speech short after being tackled.
- In May 2021, People Daily published a story that poked holes in the MP’s military career. The story questioned whether he really worked in the military for six years and rose to become captain. The story brought to light some contradictions in his education journey and career.
Responding to these allegations by People Daily, the MP said his education does not impact on his role as a leader.
“There is a newspaper that reported that I am not a professor and that I am not learned. When I was looking for votes, did I say I was learned?
I competed against very learned fellows in the last elections but I trounced them all. I have done much more development and built 16 schools,” he said.
