Former Kajiado County Woman Representative Janet Marania Teyiaa is dead.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua shared the news of her death on Monday, April 7, recalling her time in the twelfth Parliament.
"I have learnt of the passing of Janet Marania Teyiaa with great shock. I served with Janet in the 12th parliament when she represented the people of Kajiado County as a Woman Representative," Gachagua wrote on social media.
The former MP began her political career as a nominated Member of Parliament in 2013 but was later voted in as a Woman Representative in 2017 to serve the people of Kajiado as their woman representative.
She was a person living with a disability and, according to Gachagua, was rescued by a social worker as a young girl before she rose to her role in the Kenyan parliament.
"Janet, as a young girl, was saved by a social worker due to her disability in her childhood days, brimmed the epitome of resilience and a great spirit that nothing can stop a great soul from realising their dreams, especially the people who are abled differently," Gachagua noted.
Although he did not reveal the cause of Teyiaa's demise, Gachagua noted that her contributions to the county demonstrated her resolve, as she spoke for and advocated for the people living with disabilities.
In 2022, the former Woman Representative shelved her ambitions and backed the candidate vying using the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket.
Taking to social media on May 11, 2022, President William Ruto lauded her resolve for letting Leah Sangaire vie to replace her.
"We associate with the courage and sacrifice that Hon Janet Teyiaa has made in rescheduling her political ambition to back the UDA’s Woman Representative candidate for Kajiado County, Leah Sangaire. United we win," Ruto wrote.
Teyiaa had defied all odds and vied for the position in 2017 and won with 186,085 votes despite scepticism from locals who believed it was taboo to elect a disabled person. Her ODM opponent came second with 104,486 votes.
She had previously been nominated by the Jubilee Party to the 11th Parliament in 2013 to represent the disabled in the county.
