The chequered life of Tiaty MP William Kamket

Tiaty MP William Kamket (seated) graces the commissioning of Chemolingot Day Secondary School in Tiaty, Baringo County, on January 22, 2018. He notes the unity of Kanu supporters led to his victory as MP. PHOTO | CHEBOITE KIGEN | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • When he believed he was on the right path of justice, nothing would stop him from achieving his goal.
  • Mr Kamket says still more than 10 progressive legislations were signed into laws during his turbulent tenure as Speaker.
  • Mr Kamket fought off accusations by his critics that his Bill is intended to spoil the party for Deputy President William Ruto.

The bold bid by Tiaty MP William Kassait Kamket to radically change the presidency by whittling down its powers and introducing a powerful prime minister is the climax of his controversial life that is full of agitation.

To those who are surprised by his latest move, they could easily dismiss him as a rebel without cause.

But right from primary school to university, he was a go-getter, an aggressive and defiant fighter who did not shy away from speaking his mind even as he brushed shoulders with the powers that be.

When I first met him in 1997 at the Nation offices in Nakuru Town where he was posted as correspondent fresh from college, the towering Kamket was just not brave; he was fearless, vibrant, honest and bold.

“I am not a systems person. I am a non-conformist,” he would boast to me whenever he differed with colleagues in the newsroom.

AFFABLE
But even as he stood his ground, Kamket still got along with people. Veteran journalist and long-serving former Nation Nakuru Bureau Chief Michael Njuguna, who was Mr Kamket’s first boss at the newsroom, describes him as a “nice person”.

“He related well with colleagues. He was a hard-working journalist and when he went to cover functions, he had a clarity of mind,” Mr Njuguna said.

But Mr Kamket is not a person who would sit and watch if he saw injustice being meted on his colleagues or his people.

When he believed he was on the right path of justice, nothing would stop him from achieving his goal.

In his tumultuous journey from primary school, secondary to university, Mr Kamket brushed shoulders with the authorities.

“It has been quite a rough patched journey,” he told me at Hotel Waterbuck in Nakuru Town moments after he was elected as Tiaty MP in August last year.

ASMAN KAMAMA
Rough patch is also quite a befitting parallel seeing as he grew up in the dry and hostile part of Baringo County where deadly drought and banditry is fair game.

Mr Kamket had beaten his close challenger and incumbent Asman Kamama, the “king of Baringo East”, which he had represented for three terms.

Kamket’s leadership qualities were spotted early as he was a prefect at Nginyang’ Primary School.

When he joined Tenges Secondary School (where he studied from 1989 to 1992), the teachers noticed that he was too “rowdy”.

“Teachers would ask me why I was too rowdy. I didn’t know I had a problem. I was a mobiliser and when there was a problem in school, I was ready to present their grievances,” he would tell me later.

DORM CAPTAIN
To tame him, the school elevated him to the position of dormitory captain right from Form One, a position he held until he cleared Form Four.

When he joined Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC), he declared his interest to run for one of the elective seats but he did not like the constitution governing the election process.

“I led an opposition group of students that pushed for the amendments of the constitutions before the elections were held,” he recalls.

But the administration would hear none of that. In turn, he boycotted the elections and declared himself leader of a parallel student body.

His defiant move earned him suspension.

“But I convinced the authority that I had no sinister motive while pushing for the constitutional amendments and I was readmitted,” he recalls.

MAKERERE
He would later work at Parliament where he again ran for a political office, this time that of chairman, Bunge Savings and Credit Society (Sacco).

However, on the D-day, the elections were suspended with no explanation being given.

“The assembly administration had gathered intelligence reports that I would be elected as chairman of Bunge Sacco and were not comfortable with my leadership,” he said.

His political agitation took him across the borders too. As a first year student at Makerere University in Uganda, he was elected as the President of Makerere University Kenya Student Association (Mukesa).

In his third year, he vied for the chairmanship of the Makerere students’ guild.

JOURNALISM

But just as he was on the verge of being elected, he started receiving death threats.

“I opted out of the elections as my life was more precious,” he said.

But when did the bug of journalism first bite him? When he was at Class Seven at Nginyang’ Primary School, he used to burrow into the Weekly Review magazine that was bought by his headmaster, Mr Charles Oyoo.

“I loved the way Hilary Ng’weno would sign off his weekly editorial piece as Editor-in-Chief and from then on I started calling myself William Kamket, Editor-in-Chief and everything I wrote I signed like that,” he said.

“My headmaster encouraged me too, telling me one day I would become a journalist like Hilary Ng’weno.”

HANSARD REPORTER
And true to his teacher’s prediction, Mr Kamket went ahead and became a journalist.

But he worked for barely four months before quitting newsroom to join the National Assembly as a Hansard reporter between 1997 and 1999.

He then went to Makerere University for a Bachelors of Arts in Communication. He graduated in 2002 and tried unsuccessfully to vie for the Tiaty parliamentary seat.

He got his old job at Parliament Buildings, but would give it up again in 2007 to try his luck at the Tiaty seat.

He vied for the seat on an ODM ticket but lost at the nomination.

His experience as a Hansard reporter came in handy when he got a job in the East Africa Legislative Assembly in the same capacity in Arusha until 2013 when he resigned to fight for the Tiaty seat.

COUNTY SPEAKER
He lost, but secured the job of Speaker, Baringo County Assembly. This time around he tested his first political victory on the national stage.

“I was elected unanimously with overwhelming support by the MCAs.” But his tenure as speaker was full of drama and controversy.

He was arrested and charged with incitement and conspiracy to murder police officers in Kapedo.

“This was my first ever criminal case. Fighting these fake allegations in the corridors of justice was one of my lowest moments. It wasn’t a nice thing. My family was psychologically tormented.”

His woes were not yet over. As soon as he was arrested, the county assembly suspended him.

“I tried to convince the MCAs that there was nothing in law that supported the suspension but they were adamant and went on to suspend me,” he added.

SUSPENSION
He moved to court to seek a stay but lost. He stayed in the cold for one year. But being a fighter that he is, he challenged the suspension in court and his prayers were heard.

He went ahead to absolve his name and challenged the criminal case which he won.

However, before his celebrations could die, the MCAs sponsored a motion to impeach him. He miraculously survived.

However, he was not yet out of the woods as the Ward reps petitioned for his removal. Mr Kamket challenged the petition in court and emerged the winner.

“I have spent five years moving from one court to the other but the beauty of it all I have emerged victorious as I was always on the right side of the law,” Mr Kamket said.

LEGISLATION

Mr Kamket says still more than 10 progressive legislations were signed into laws during his turbulent tenure.

He notes the unity of Kanu supporters led to his victory as MP.

“This time Kanu united and made sure they delivered the seat,” Mr Kamket, who is a great admirer of former President Daniel arap Moi, said.

“Mr Moi is a consummate professor of politics and I respect him as I have learnt a lot from his leadership skills,” Mr Kamket, now in his mid-40s, said.

DP RUTO

Mr Kamket on Saturday fought off accusations by his critics that his Bill is intended to spoil the party for Deputy President William Ruto, who is the Jubilee favourite to succeed Uhuru in 2022.

“Nobody has pushed me to draft this Bill not even my party chairman Gideon Moi. It has nothing to do with Kanu or any other political leader. It has everything to do with the state of the nation,” he said.

For now the Jubilee Party leadership has distanced themselves from the Bill.

But a day in politics is very long. How the debate pans out in the coming days might yet change the country’s leadership structure at the apex for a very long time.

And just like that, William Kasait Kamket the journalist could have written his name into the annals of history.