Former Tinderet Member of Parliament and political flame Henry Kiprono Kosgey has maintained a low profile away from the public limelight after being defeated in the gubernatorial race for Nandi county in the 2017 elections.
The former Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) chairman had been one of the longest-serving Members of Parliament from 1979 to 2013 before unsuccessfully contesting for the senatorial position of Nandi in 2013 elections.
Kosgey actively joined politics in 1979 when he was overwhelmingly voted in as MP for Tinderet constituency in the then Rift Valley province. He later served as Minister in various dockets including Industrialization, Culture and Social Services, Cooperative Development and Transport in both former presidents Moi’s and Kibaki’s governments.
The Strathmore and University of Nairobi graduate was later implicated in the human rights violations International Criminal Court (ICC) case, where he was charged as one of the key masterminds of the 2007 post-election violence.
On 23rd January 2012, the cases of “incitement and planning of violence” against him were dropped by the court citing lack of sufficient prosecutorial evidence to sustain a full trial.
He was appointed Tourism fund chairman by President Uhuru Kenyatta last year shortly before announcing his intention to clinch Nandi’s governor position. He was highly vocal, especially on issues he did not agree with.