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WEST POKOT COUNTY INFORMATION
Print Email Vision To be a leading County in effective and efficient resource management, coordinated sustainable development and service delivery. Mission To facilitate equitable development and improved public service delivery to stimulate sustainable socio-economic development, high quality of life and became the best County in Kenya. Pokot History The Pokot people (commonly spelled Pokoot) live in West Pokot County and Baringo County in Kenya and in the Pokot District of the Eastern Karamoja Region in Uganda.
They speak Pokoot, a language of the Southern Nilotic language family which is close to the Marakwet, Nandi, Tugen and other members of the Kalenjin grouping. Kenya's 2009 census puts the total number of Pokot speakers at about 620,000 in Kenya. In addition, there are close to 100,000 Pokot speakers in Uganda. According to the census, there were 133,000 Pokot speakers in Baringo County and close to 500,000 in West Pokot County. A fair estimate indicates that there are close to 700,000 Pokot speakers in Kenya and Uganda. Types of Art Most Pokot art is associated with body ornamentation, including beadwork and intricate coiffures and wigs that are worn by young men to signal their membership in a given age-grade. Other forms of art include richly patinated gourds and containers used by women for storage. Religion Tororot is considered the supreme deity among Pokot. Prayers and offerings are made to him during communal gatherings, including feasts and dances. Such ceremonies are usually presided over by a community elder. Diviners and medicine men also play a significant role in maintaining spiritual balance within the community.
Dances and feasts are held to thank the god for the generosity and abundance, which he bestows upon Pokot communities. Political System Pokot society is governed through a series of age-grades. Group membership is determined by the age at which one undergoes initiation. For young men this occurs between ages fifteen and twenty, while for young women it usually occurs around age twelve at the onset of menarche. After initiation, young people are allowed to marry and are permitted to begin participating in local economic activities. Young men and women form close bonds with other members of their initiation groups, and these bonds serve for future political ties.
When a man or woman reaches old age among Pokot, he or she is accorded a certain degree of status and respect. Responsibilities of elders include presiding over important community decisions, festivals, and religious ceremonies. Under the new dispensation, west Pokot is among the 47 counties in Kenya. It has a county government that is headed by His Excellency Governor Simon Kachapin. The county has experienced tremendous changes both in the social and economical realm since the initiation of devolved governance system. Being a region that was slightly behind in matters development , the county is determined through its leadership to constantly improve and develop the standards of it people.
Education Sector Education is the background to all the other sectors since it is the outlet of skills and knowledge. The education sector in the county was dwindling from the marginalization of the central government. In the new dispensation the county is endowed with the responsibility of Early childhood education and Vocational training. The government has established several youth polytechnics and ECDE centers for the kids. The government has also introduced a bursary and scholarships fund for the bright and needy students since most of the families cannot afford secondary and tertiary education due to abject poverty in the region. For the last two financial years the government...
H.E Prof. John Krop Lonyangapuo is the second and current governor of West Pokot county. Prof Lonyangapuo, a seasoned politician and a member of KANU, recently served as the first senator of West Pokot county before embarking on his journey for the gubernatorial position.
Prof Lonyagapuo has risen from humble beginnings to now; a household name in Kenyan politics. Previously, the governor held senior government positions in the Kenyatta and Kibaki administrations where he served as the permanent secretary-Min of Industrialization (2010-2012) and later on served in the same capacity, Min of Public works (2008-2010) following a reshuffle by the then president Kibaki.
During his tenure as the PS, Prof Lonyangapuo facilitated a lot of development; improving the state of roads and building bridges across the county.
He is also credited for initiating academic institutions in West Pokot, Tiaty in Baringo and Eastern Uganda. The governor, who is passionate about matters education was appointed the principal of Chepkoilel campus, which was a constituent of Moi university then, serving from the year 2002-2007.
Political Career.
After close to two decades of experience in the field of academia and public service, Prof. Lonyangapuo joined politics in 2007 and contested unsuccessfully for the Kapenguria parliamentary seat on a KANU ticket, emerging third. In September 2012, he resigned as PS and vied for the West Pokot senatorial seat, competing against seasoned politicians Hon. Samwel Poghisio and Rev. Julius Murgor who were then serving members of parliament for Kacheliba and Kapenguria, and minister and assistant minister, respectively. He became the flag bearer of the KANU party where he won with a landslide, garnering 72% of the votes.
The CountyTrak Senator’s approval survey, conducted by Infotrak Research and Consulting on behalf of the Daily Nation in 2015, Prof John Krop Lonyangapuo of West Pokot was the highest ranked Senator in the country, with an approval rating of 74.5 per cent. He was then referred as ‘senator 1’ by his colleagues and constituents for his debating prowess and contributions in the senate. In 2016, Prof. Lonyangapuo declared his interest to run for the West Pokot county gubernatorial seat which was hotly contested and he subsequently won during the elections conducted on 8/8/2017.
Early life & Education.
Prof lonyangapuo was born in 1964 in Kanyarkwat, a remote village in the then West Pokot district, Rift Valley province. At the age of 10, he joined Kanyarkwat primary school where he sat for his certificate of Primary Education(CPE), then proceeded to Ortum Secondary School for his ‘O’ levels, subsequently emerging top in his class.
He then joined St. Mary’s School of Yala for his ‘A’ levels in 1985. Prof. Lonyangapuo joined Egerton University for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. In 1995, he got a scholarship for Doctorate in Applied Mathematics in the University of Leeds, UK. After three years in Leeds, he returned to Kenya and joined Egerton University as a senior lecturer.