MP Ken Okoth third MP to die of cancer in 12th Parliament

Kibra MP Ken Okoth (pictured) has lost the battle to colorectal cancer, a disease he has resiliently fought for months.

Okoth is not the first MP to die of cancer in the 12^th Parliament. Two others have passed on since the August 2017 General Election.

Francis Nyenze, a Kitui West MP and KANU-era Cabinet Minister died of colon cancer, a disease he had resiliently fought for close to a decade in December 2017. He was 60 years old.

Signs of his failing health came to the fore when he was sworn in to the 12th Parliament with an oxygen tank strapped to his body. He was serving his third term.

He was the Member of Parliament for Kitui West Constituency and the Minority leader in the 11th Parliament.

Grace Kipchoim, who was Baringo South MP also passed on in April last year while undergoing treatment in a Nairobi Hospital.

Grace was sickly throughout the campaign period. She did not conduct even a single rally as she was bed-ridden.

But fortunately, she was re-elected as Baringo South MP in the 2017 General Election.

She was diagnosed with colon of cancer that was discovered at stage four and she underwent at least five operations in and outside Kenya.

In October last year, Juja MP Francis Munyua Waititu while confessing that he was also battling the disease, said many public figures were suffering from cancer and could not seek treatment in Kenya, partly because of the stigma associated with it.

“It is no longer a secret that many people are suffering in silence from cancer. Nobody wants to talk about it because of the stigma,” said the MP.

He added: “The situation is serious. We have for example about 63 MPs (from the National Assembly and the Senate) and thousands of other Kenyans suffering from cancer. We must get out and talk about it boldly,” he said.

He further said dozens of Kenyans taken to India for treatment, and their caregivers, sleep in the streets after running out of money.

“Kenyans seeking cancer treatment in India are suffering. They cannot find anywhere to lay down heads and end up sleeping in trenches because they cannot afford renting the expensive houses there.”