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{
"id": 1517994,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1517994/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "colleague Senators to take time to say what they know, how they feel about Sen. Cheptumo’s loss and the things that they will remember him for. When we visited the family yesterday, the daughter – that young girl called Cheptoo – asked us to say what we know about their father as a politician and how we worked with him. I believe that as colleagues, we feel this loss at a deep level. Unlike many of us, you will find a colleague telling you that they crossed paths with Sen. Cheptumo, disagreed or exchanged words, but I do not think so. He was a peaceful character, humble, had experience due to his age and wisdom to the maximum and interacted with colleagues across the aisle with maximum decorum. There is a lot for us, especially younger legislators, to learn from him. For citizens to elect you for four terms, it confirms that there is something in your character that they appreciate. The people of Baringo saw greatness in this man. Those of us who have served with him in this House can confirm that indeed this was a great human being. Unfortunately, as I speak, we are referring to him as the late, which is life and its many turns. We want to confirm to the family that the many great memories that we share with this distinguished leader shall remain with us. I celebrate Sen. Cheptumo for his humility. He was an extremely humble man. Despite my relatively young age compared to him, there is no day that we disagreed and he pulled the age card or tried to shut down when he held a contrary view. He was always humble to a fault. Whenever he disagreed on any particular position or issue, he would walk into his office slowly. You know how he used to walk. He would tell me; leader, I think you should reconsider your position on this because of this or that reason. That is something worth emulating. I am sure those who served under him in the Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations can say a thing or two about him. I mentioned yesterday when we visited his family that Sen. William Cheptumo was also very funny, though silent. He appreciated humour that came with the work of politics that we do. There is a particular clip of a young man in Baringo County when he was seeking to serve as a Senator for a fourth term. That young man was recorded ridiculing and asking how they could promote someone to Form Four, meaning to get a fourth term, while there is no water and many other things. When he eventually made it here, I used to refer to him as “Form Four” and he would laugh about it, despite the circumstances under which he got that particular title. That is a good lesson to us, that as we do public service, not everybody will agree with us. Many people will criticise us, but Sen. Cheptumo never took offence in that particular issue. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are many things I would wish to say, but I know we will still get an occasion with his family and friends when we go there on Saturday, 1st March, 2025, to lay him to rest in Baringo. Therefore, in the interest of time, I want to grant opportunity to the rest of my colleagues to say something about Sen. William Cheptumo. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}