Lorna Chepkemoi Laboso (8 November 1961 – 10 June 2008) was a Kenyan Politician born in Kericho District of the
Orange Democratic Movement
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement which was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in Augu ...
(ODM). She was briefly a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
and Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Vice Presidents Office in 2008.
[Dominic Wabala and Fred Mukinda]
"Kones killed in crash"
, ''Daily Nation'', June 11, 2008.
Laboso received an Undergraduate Bachelor of Arts Degree In Mass Communication from
Daystar University
Daystar is a Christian liberal arts university in Nairobi.
Daystar's original campus is close to Nairobi city centre, but there was no room to expand at that location. Therefore, in 1992 a new campus was built at Athi River, some 40 km to ...
in 2007. She was elected to the
National Assembly of Kenya
The National Assembly of the Republic of Kenya is one of the two Houses of the Parliament of Kenya. Between 1966 and 2013, it served as a unicameral house. In 2013 ( 11th Parliament), it became the lower house when the Senate was reestablish ...
for the first time in the
December 2007 parliamentary election as the MP from
Sotik Constituency
Sotik Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya established for the 1997 elections. It is one of five constituencies in Bomet County. Sotik has one major river, River Kipsonoi. Sotik is also a hilly place with the main crops being grown ar ...
. In the grand coalition Cabinet formed in April 2008, she was appointed as Assistant Minister in the Office of the Vice President.
[
She was killed along with Minister of Roads in a plane crash on June 10, 2008.]["Two Kenyan government ministers die"]
Sapa-AFP (''IOL''), June 10, 2008.["Ministers killed in Kenya crash"]
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
, 10 June 2008. The plane crashed into a building in Kajong'a market near Nairagie Enkare in Enoosupukia, Narok District,[ near ]Narok
Narok (sometimes referred to as Narok Town) is a town west of Nairobi that supports Kenya's economy in south-west of the country, along the Great Rift Valley. Narok is the district capital of the Narok County and stands as the major centre of ...
[ and the ]Masai Mara game reserve
Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve in Narok, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is named in honor of the Maasai people, the ancestr ...
.[ The plane carrying Laboso and Kones, a ]Cessna
Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...
light aircraft, had taken off from Wilson Airport
Wilson Airport is an airport in Nairobi, Kenya. It has flights to many regional airports in Kenya while Nairobi's main airport, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, serves domestic and many international destinations.
Location
Wilson Airport ...
in Nairobi
Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...
;[ they had been flying to ]Kericho
Kericho is the biggest town in Kericho County located in the highlands west of the Kenyan Rift Valley. Standing on the edge of the Mau Forest, Kericho has a warm and temperate climate making it an ideal location for agriculture and in particul ...
in the Rift Valley to help with the organization of logistics for ODM candidate Benjamin Langat in the by-election that was scheduled to be held in Ainamoi Constituency
Ainamoi is an electoral constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, ...
on June 11.[ In addition to Kones and Laboso, the pilot and a security guard were killed.][
President ]Mwai Kibaki
Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki (15 November 1931 – 21 April 2022) was a Kenyan politician who served as the third President of Kenya from December 2002 until April 2013 and is regarded as one of Kenya's founding fathers.
He had previously ser ...
sent his condolences and ordered flags to fly at half mast, saying that Kenya had "lost leaders of immense potential at their prime age and with a promising future." Prime Minister Raila Odinga
Raila Amolo Odinga (born 7 January 1945) is a Kenyan politician, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Langata and businessman who served as the Prime Minister of Kenya from 2008 to 2013. He is assumed to be the Leader of Opposition in Kenya sin ...
, the ODM leader, said that it was a "sad moment"; believing that it was too late to delay the planned by-elections, he urged ODM supporters to use the by-elections as a tribute to Laboso and Kones by turning out to vote for the ODM's candidates.[
The "List of alleged perpetrators" of the 2007/2008 post-electoral violence of the Kenya National Human Rights Commission however lists her among the suspects on place 1 (page 177) and charges her with "planning and incitement to violence". Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20090729172008/http://www.knchr.org/dmdocuments/KNCHR%20doc.pdf
Following the death of Laboso, a by-election was held in the Sotik Constituency on 25 September 2008. The seat was won by Laboso's sister, Joyce Cherono for the ODM.][The Standard, September 26, 2008]
ODM wins in Bomet and Sotik
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laboso, Lorna
1961 births
2008 deaths
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Kenya
Orange Democratic Movement politicians
Members of the National Assembly (Kenya)
21st-century Kenyan women politicians
21st-century Kenyan politicians