Dr Taaita Araap Toweett
The champion for education
Here's a timeline of Dr. Toweett's life:
- 1925 - Toweett is born in May at Tebesonik, near Litein, in Kisiara Location, Kericho District.
- 1939 – 43 - He attends Chebwagan Primary School and the African Government School in Kabianga.
- 1944 – 47 - He attends Alliance High School in Kikuyu and then at Makerere University College, where he studied Sociology, English Literature and History.
- 1950 - He serves as a Welfare Officer in Kericho.
- 1953 - He works briefly as a broadcaster with Voice of Kenya (VOK), African Service, Kisumu.
- 1955 - He is awarded scholarship by the Kipsigis County Council to the South Devon Technical College, Torquay, to study for a diploma in Public and Social Administration.
- 1957 - He returns from Britain and is appointed Community Development Officer for Nandi District, the first African CDO to be recruited locally.
- 1960 - 1963 - He attendes the Lancaster House Conferences held in London to draft Kenya's Constitution, paving the way for Kenya's complete self-rule.
- 1960 - He is appointed Assistant Minister for Agriculture and re-elected to the Legislative Council.
- 1961 - He is appointed Minister of Labour and Housing.
- 1962 - He is appointed Minister of Lands, Surveys and Town Planning.
- 1963 - He is elected KADU Member for Bureti Constituency.
- 1969 - He returns to Parliament as Member for Buret and is appointed Minister for Education.
- 1974 - He is re-elected to Parliament in the General Election and appointed Minister for Housing and Social Services. He obtains his M.A. in Linguistics from the University of Nairobi, for which he had registered in 1973.
- 1976 - He becomes the Minister for Education.
- 1976 – 78 - He is elected President of the 19th General Assembly of UNESCO
- 1977 - He finishes his PhD thesis on "A Study Of Kalenjin Linguistics".
- 1979 - He looses the General Election but was appointed Chairman of Kenya Literature Bureau.
- 1983 - He does not contest in the the 1983 General Election but returned to parliament as a nominated MP.
- 1983 -1985 - He serves as Chairman of Kenya Airways.
- 1985 - 1998 - He serves the Chairman of Kenya Seed Company.
- 1992 -1997 - He is back in parliament as a nominated MP. He also serves as a Director of the Kenya Times newspaper.
- 1997 - 2000 - He publishes and edits his own newspaper, Voice of Rift Valley.
- 2002 onwards - He writes a weekly column in the Kenya Times called "Face To Face With Guru".
- 2003–04 - He is actively involved in the Constitution Review Process at Bomas of Kenya.
- 2007 - He dies on the 8 October after an automobile accident, when the car he is traveling collides head on with a canter truck a few kilometers from his Shimoni Residence in Nakuru.