Abraham Kipkoech Limo who is immediate former Secretary General of UDF party was an athlete in school and his love of sports landed him a direct scholarship to study in the United States soon after completing A-Levels at Kapsabet Boys High School.
Limo says he never imagined that one day he would fly out of the country and become a behind the scenes political operator dining and mingling with the high and mighty.
He has never been employed formally because as soon as he returned from the US study tour he plunged into Kanu politics in Nandi County in 1995.
“When I returned I never thought of looking for formal employment but I had a strong feeling that I should make a contribution to politics in one way or another,” says Limo.
Influential businessman David Langat recruited him as his Personal Assistant when he (Langat) contested for the Tinderet parliamentary seat through Kanu in 1997.
Since then Limo’s name has been a permanent feature in key political movements in the county to date.
Limo would later be in the team that helped to form the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) through which retired President Mwai Kibaki defeated Kanu in 2002. And in 2007, Limo led the Kibaki Tena campaign secretariat in Rift Valley. He worked closely with the then Nyeri businesswoman Mary Wambui who is now MP for Othaya.
“Working behind the scenes in politics I have learned a lot including the fact that politics is quite a complex game that requires proper vision, planning and strategy to achieve what one may desire,” he explains.
He has worked with all kinds of politicians and now he is planning to emerge from behind the scenes and join elective politics in his home county of Uasin Gishu where he may vie for the Kapseret Parliamentary seat depending on a number factors that will play out as elections approach.
Before then, Limo was a member of the Jubilee Party secretariat working under former minister Raphael Tuju. This is after his UDF party dissolved alongside other 12 parties to form the Jubilee Party.
Through his political activities Limo mobilised youth and women groups in Nandi, Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia to benefit from support programmes so that they engage in wealth creation projects in the farming and business sectors.
“Our political parties need to invest more in youth because many of them have unexploited potential and represent the future of Kenya. Ignoring the youth only doubles the problems we face with runaway unemployment and other related challenges,” says Limo.
In five minutes
1967: Born at Lessos Keben Village, Nandi county.
1975: He started formal education at Kipsinende Primary School in Nandi which he completed in 1981.
1982: He was enrolled at Sochoi Secondary School until 1985 when he did his KCE.
1986: Moved to Kapsabet Boys’ High School for his A levels until 1987.
1988: Joined Iowa State University where he graduated with a B Sc degree in Agricultural Economics.
1995: Returned home and became Personal Assistant to businessman David Langat besides getting time to coordinate civic education programmes within Nandi county.
2007: Headed Ex-President Kibaki’s campaign in North Rift
2011: Formed United Democratic Front (UDF) of which he became the Secretary General. In 2013 he became Election Board chairman when the party was taken over by Musalia Mudavadi.
Quotes
2015: “I hate tribalism and dislike politicians who have no shame propagating negative ideology and applying dirty tricks to divide Kenyans along tribal lines. We need to have two or three parties in which will operate on the basis of principals and issues affecting the people and not surviving on the back of tribalism.”
2015: “To make it clear UDF is not joining Cord. We have never thought and are not thinking about it. The party is an affiliate of the ruling Jubilee coalition. Our official position is that there is an existent coalition agreement with Jubilee and whoever is making any contrary statements is doing so at a personal level.”
2016: “Jubilee is one of the largest political movements I have worked with. And from inside I can see a movement that is really focused on uniting Kenyans regardless of their tribes and political affiliation so that as a country we can jointly deal with the challenges we face.”