He was vocal, well articulated and a man who was a darling to watch in political debates. Washington Jakoyo Midiwo. Born in 1966, he rose through the ranks to become a vocal leader who met his untimely death on 14th June 2021 on Monday after having a cardiac arrest. Kenyans received the news of his death a few hours after the death of business mogul Dr. Chris Kirubi. He had also buried his sister on Saturday, 12th June 2021.
“Sad day for the party. We have just lost a gallant son of the soil, a founder member of the change movement and a three time member of parliament for Gem Hon. Jakoyo Midiwo,” said the party.
They further added that he was a defender of the party who never shied away from truth.
Age
The legislator was 54 years when he met his death.
Education
The fallen legislator began his education at Ndori Primary School before joining Sawagongo High School for his O-levels. He attained an MBA in Accounting from the University of Nairobi.
Career
In 2002, he was first elected to parliament under the NARC Party ticket.
In 2007, he was elected the member of parliament for Gem constituency on an ODM party ticket..
From 2008 to 2013, he was a member of several boards and served in various capacities including
- Departmental Committee on finance, planning and trade.
- Joint committee on parliamentary broadcasting and library.
- House of Business Committee
From 2013, he became a member of the catering and health club committee and departmental Committee on defense and foreign relations.
In 2017, he lost his parliamentary seat with rumors flying around that he had had a fallout with Raila Odinga.
After losing his parliamentary seat, he went out of the limelight for quite sometime. In 2017, he re-appeared on the scenes after Raila Odinga appointed him to spearhead ODM’s signature drive in Nyanza region in a bid to pass the Building Bridges Initiative.
Political involvements
In 2015, a member of his party accused him of being a Jubilee party’s mole. He vehemently denied these accusations saying he had invested a lot of time and labor in the Orange Democratic Party and could therefore not afford to be a mole for the Jubilee government.
When there were rumors of deputy president William Ruto’s impeachment, Jakoyo came out to warn the president against impeaching his deputy. In a viral video, he declared that was not the right action and those close to the president should not advise him to follow that route.
In June 2018 during an interview on NTV, he declared that politicians would not see heaven except him, Kiambu senator KimaninWamatangi and Kimilili MP Eseli Simiyu. He made this statement in response to a headline by The Standard newspaper that read;
“Ruto: Am investing in heaven, leave me.”
In December 2019, he declared he would reject the BBI if it was passed through parliament. According to him, the initiative was supposed to be passed by the people of Kenya and not Parliamentarians.
Woes
In 2020, he got into trouble with the Kisumu county government over rent arrears. In October 2020, the county government threatened to evict him alongside other politicians who had rent arrears running up to millions.
Earlier the same year, he had been involved in a scuffle with police officers who allegedly assaulted him and his driver at his home.
Death
The legislator suffered a cardiac arrest at the Nairobi Hospital on 14 June.
