Former Gem Member of Parliament, Jakoyo Midiwo Dead at 54

Former Gem MP, Jakoyo Midiwo, is dead.

Philip Etale, the Orange Democratic Movement’s (ODM) Director of Communications, on June 14,  confirmed his passing away without revealing the cause of his demise.

“Hon. Jakoyo Midiwo has rested. Please pray for the family during this difficult moment,” announced Etale.

The ex-MP, who is also a first cousin to Kenya’s former Prime Minister, Hon. Raila Odinga died at the age of 54.

In a statement, the ODM party said that it has lost a defender of the party, who never shied away from speaking the truth.

“Sad day for our party. We have just lost a gallant son of the soil, a founder member of the Change Movement & a three-time Member of Parliament for Gem Hon. Jakoyo Midiwo… To the family, we say pole sana,” ODM said.

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Midiwo first became a lawmaker in 2007 when he was elected to  represent the Constituency of Gem at the National Assembly under the ODM ticket.

He served as the MP until 2017 when he lost to his long-time competitor Elisha Odhiambo who vied for the parliamentary seat on an ODM ticket. This was preceded by a fallout with the ODM leader.

However, after his political hiatus, he made a comeback following his appointment by Raila to champion the sourcing of signatures for the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) in Nyanza.

The announcement of his death comes hours after that of billionaire industrialist Chris Kirubi, who died at the age of 80.

More to follow.