Reuben Kiplagat Chesire (27 March 1941 - 22 November 2008) was a Kenyan politician who served as 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 o ...

from 1988 to 1997. Chesire was born on 27 March 1941 in

Kabarnet Kabarnet is a town in Baringo County, Kenya. The town has an urban population of 9,583 and a total population of 24,661 (1999 census). Geography At an altitude of 1,815 metres (5,957 feet) Kabarnet is located on the eastern edge of the Kerio Va ...

Baringo County Baringo County is one of the 47 counties in Kenya. It is located in the former Rift Valley Province. Its headquarters and largest town is Kabarnet. The county is home to Lake Baringo. Geographical location Baringo bounded by Turkana County an ...

, the son of Isaiah Chemwetich Chesire and Elizabeth Kobilo Chesire. He attended Kapropita Primary School and in 1960 the

Royal Technical College The Royal College of Science and Technology was a higher education college that existed in Glasgow, Scotland between 1887 and 1964, and is the predecessor institution of the University of Strathclyde. Its main building on George Street now serve ...

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 h ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

, leaving in 1962 after successfully passing his

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

. He was appointed as the District Officer in Kwale later that year. In 1972 Chesire was elected the first African Chairman of the Kenya Farmers Association. Between 1973 and 1981 he served as the chairman of the African Tours and Hotels, which was listed on the

Nairobi Securities Exchange The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) was established in 1954 as the Nairobi Stock Exchange, based in Nairobi the capital of Kenya. It was a voluntary association of stockbrokers in the European community registered under the Societies Act in ...

. He also chaired the boards of the Kenya Dairy Board, Industrial Development Bank, ICDC amongst many others. A passionate farmer and livestock breeder, he is regarded a ‘mid wife’ figure to Kenya’s agriculture sector having pioneered many reforms in the agriculture sector during his term as KFA chairman and later as the Minister of Livestock. His Ayrshire dairy herd at Makongi Farm is world renowned and he is distinguished as having served as President of the Ayrshire breeders societies worldwide. In the

1988 Kenyan general election General elections were held in Kenya on 21 March 1988. At the time, the county was a one-party state with the Kenya African National Union as the sole legal party. The size of the National Assembly was expanded from 158 to 188 seats prior to th ...

he was elected as the

for

Eldoret North Constituency Eldoret North Constituency was a former electoral constituency in Kenya. It was one of three constituencies in Uasin Gishu District, now Uasin Gishu County Uasin Gishu County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya located in the former Rift Valley ...

, located in the former

Uasin Gishu County Uasin Gishu County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya located in the former Rift Valley Province. Eldoret has the county's largest population center as well as its administrative and commercial center. “It lies between longitudes 34 degrees ...

, representing the

Kenya African National Union The Kenya African National Union (KANU) is a Kenyan political party that ruled for nearly 40 years after Kenya's independence from British colonial rule in 1963 until its electoral loss in 2002. It was known as Kenya African Union (KAU) from 19 ...

. He was subsequently re-elected at the

1992 Kenyan general election General elections were held in Kenya on 29 December 1992. Voters elected the President, and members of the National Assembly. They were the first multi-party general elections in Kenya since independence and the first to feature a direct vote fo ...

s. He lost his seat to the current president

William Samoei Ruto William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto (born 21 December 1966) is a Kenyan politician who is serving as the fifth and current president of Kenya since 13 September 2022. Prior to becoming president, he served as the 11th deputy president of Ken ...

in the

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held in December 1997. He unsuccessfully challenged Ruto for the Eldoret North Constituency at the 2002 Kenyan general elections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chesire, Reuben Kiplagat 1941 births 2008 deaths Kenyan politicians Kenya African National Union politicians Members of the National Assembly (Kenya) University of Nairobi alumni Uasin Gishu Politicians