By Prudence Minayo
Joshua Kutuny is a Kenyan politician who is the current Cherengany constituency Member of Parliament. He joined the political world soon after completing his Bachelor’s Degree from Moi University.
In 2007 he became the youngest parliamentarian after winning the Cherangany seat. Over the years, he has grown in stature and doesn’t have qualms going against the popular political tide.
Not much is known about his early life or family as he seems to prefer to keep it private. This article mainly focuses on his political career.
Age
Joshua Serem Kutuny was born in 1978 in Cherengany.
Education
After completing primary school at Kipikykei, he proceeded to Suwerwa Secondary School in 1997.
Upon completing high school, he qualified to join Egerton University for a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture Economics. However, this was not where his heart lay. He wanted to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Administration.
In 2002, he bagged the chance to join Moi University for a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration and Political Science where he graduated in 2006.
Career
In 2003, he was elected as the Kenya National African Union (KANU) Cherengany youth representative. This paved the way for him to join politics as he got to work with a lot of people and meet other politicians among them the former Minister for Agriculture and now the Deputy President of Kenya William Ruto. In an interview with Capital News published on 22nd August 2008, he revealed that Honorable William Ruto mentored him.
After graduating from the university in 2006, he joined the political arena. In 2007, he vied for the Cherengany Seat under the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). He defeated his fellow aspirants including seasoned politician Kipruto Kirwa who had been reigning in the constituency for about two decades.
This victory made him the youngest Member of Parliament at the time at 30-years-old.
In the 2013 general elections, he vied for the same seat, Member of Parliament for Cherengany. Unfortunately, he lost to Wesley Korir who was the 2012 Boston Marathon winner. After failing to get the seat, he was appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta as his political advisor, a job he held until December 2017 when he resigned.
Upon resigning, he vied for the Cherengany parliamentary seat once again and won it, a seat he holds to date.
In an article by The Star on 8th August 2020, he revealed his decision to part ways with Gideon Moi. According to the article, he claimed that Gideon was mistreating allies of the Deputy President William Ruto and also misleading President Uhuru Kenyatta to sack those allied to the deputy president. He spoke this during the commission of a rural certification project in the area. The politician further added that those views did not mean he was going to work with Wiliam Ruto. The politician has gone to publicly oppose the DP on a wide range of issues.
Building Bridges Initiatives (BBI)
He is among the proponents of the BBI. Famed for his Niponge nisiponge dare, the MP has advocated for the BBI report which is supported by President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga. His stand is not popular in the larger Rift Valley but this has seemingly not deterred the parliamentarian. The sheng loving Kutuny said of the BBI report:
“The hardest part now is for us leaders to come together and ensure that we discuss this report cautiously bearing in mind that the concerns raised there are not about us but about Kenyans and the ordinary citizens that we represent…”
Family
The parliamentarian is a married man with two children.
