1925 saw the birth of Dr. Taaitta Kipyegon arap Toweett. After attending Litein Primary, he subsequently enrolled in Kabianga Mission School. He finished first in the nation’s 1948 Kenya African Preliminary Examination. After enrolling in Alliance High School, he subsequently transferred to Makerere College.
After that, he participated in a correspondence program at a university in South Africa, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Later, he pursued a PhD in linguistics and a master’s degree in philosophy at the University of Nairobi.
When Toweett was chosen to represent Kericho in the Legislative Council in 1958, he entered politics. He was appointed main adviser to Kadu at its formation in 1960 and foresaw Kanu’s death in four months. As a member of the Kadu delegation, he was one of the well-known political figures from Kenya who took part in the formulation of the first Constitution at Lancaster.
He left his position in 1963 and joined Kanu without his party’s approval. In order to defend Sotik’s seat on a Kanu ticket, he also resigned from his position as MP. But Alexander Bii prevailed against him. He was philosophical when he left Kadu, citing political disillusionment: “My studies in metaphysics have caused me to lose the ability to discern between right and wrong.” Despite the fact that life is always changing, I find it extremely difficult to have a stance on political issues and to follow one-sided political judgments.
Toweett set conditions for his support of Kenyatta when he was appointed prime minister: he would only cooperate with him if people close to the Kanu leader did not turn on him. Toweett was the sole member to choose the principled course of asking for a new mandate from the voters when Kadu was dissolved in 1964 to join Kanu. He also refused to cross the House floor. After losing the by-election, he vanished from public view until winning the seat back in 1969.
President Kenyatta named him Minister of Education following the election. In 1974, he was elected again. However, he lost in 1979, and it wasn’t until Kanu nominated him in 1992 that he was back in Parliament. In addition, he was named Kenya Seed Company chairman. Toweett and Jean Marie Seroney, the Member of Parliament for Tinderet in Nandi, were against other communities settling in the Rift Valley, which the Kalenjin believed to be their ancient territory. Following their protests in the province, the two issued the Nandi Hills Declaration in 1969, pledging to oppose similar resettlements.
It was only with Moi’s help that he agreed to the immigrants’ settlement in the Rift Valley. After Kibaki and other politicians from central Kenya backed Moi to become the second President, his discontent with the predominantly Kikuyu settlement subsided. Toweett once said of Kenyatta that he was a quiet president who talked only in good company and remained silence in bad. Early in the 1970s, Toweett’s political problems started when certain legislators attempted to amend the Constitution to prevent Vice President Moi from succeeding Kenyatta as president in the event of Moi’s death. It was said that he showed empathy for the group. This increased hostility between him and Moi, who after Kenyatta’s death on August 22, 1978, took over as President.
