John Krop Lonyangapuo is a Kenyan politician; the second and current governor of West Pokot county. He, a seasoned politician and a KANU’s member, previously served as the first senator of West Pokot county before embarking on his journey for the gubernatorial position. From 2008 to 2010, he was the former Permanent Secretary (PS) for Ministry of Industrialization, under the President Mwai Kibaki’s Leadership.
He has risen from humble beginnings to now, a household name in Kenyan politics. The governor, previously, held senior government positions in the Kenyatta and Kibaki administrations that’s from 2010-2012, where he served as the permanent secretary Minister of Industrialization and following a reshuffle by the then president Kibaki.
Lonyangapuo facilitated a lot of development, improving the state of roads and building bridges across the county, during his tenure as the PS. Lonyangapuo is also credited for initiating academic institutions in West Pokot, Tiaty in Baringo and Eastern Uganda. Lonyangapuo, who is passionate about matters in education, was appointed the Chepkoilel campus’ principal, which was a constituent of Moi university then, serving from the year 2002 to 2007.
Age
John Krop born on 10th December, 1964, Kanyarkwat, West Pokot County
John Krop Lonyangapuo Education
He joined Kanyarkwat primary school at the age of 10, where he sat for his certificate of Primary Education(CPE) exam, then proceeded to Ortum Secondary School for his secondary education, subsequently emerging a top student in his class.
In 1985, John Krop then joined St. Mary’s School of Yala for his ‘A’ level. He joined Egerton University for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He got a scholarship for Doctorate in Applied Mathematics at the University of Leeds, UK, in 1995. Three years later, Lonyangapuo returned to Kenya and joined Egerton University as a senior lecturer.
John Krop Lonyangapuo Marriage
Lonyangapuo got married to Mary Lonyangapuo in 1993 and she is a lecturer at Moi University. The two are blessed with children, three daughters Rachael, Abigail and Chenangat. Chenangat is the first born and did her KCSE in 2011 in Alliance Girls Highschool, who was ranked position four countrywide. It was here that Lonyangapuo’s daughter declared she wanted to be an environmentalist.
Political Career
He entered politics in 2007 after nearly two decades of academic and public service experience. He, unsuccessfully, challenged a KANU ticket for the Kapenguria’s parliamentary seat and emerged third among the contestants. In September, 2012, Prof. resigned as PS and ran for the senatorial seat of West Pokot, competing against experienced politicians, Samuel Poghisio and Julius Murgor, who served parliamentarians for Kacheliba and Kapenguria, and then as minister and assistant minister, respectively. He became the flag bearer of KANU party, where he won with a landslide, garnering 72% of the votes.
In 2015, the CountyTrak Senator’s approval survey, conducted by Infotrak Research and Consulting on behalf of the Daily Nation, Prof Lonyangapuo of West Pokot, was the highest ranked Senator in the country, with 74.5 percent approval rating. Then, Prof Lonyangapuo was referred to as ‘senator one’ by his friends and constituents for his debating prowess and contributions in the senate.
He declared his interest to run for the West Pokot county gubernatorial seat in 2016, which was hotly contested, and he subsequently won during the elections conducted on 8th August, 2017.
